n
LIBRARY
THE UNIVERSITY
OF CALIFORNIA
SANTA BARBARA I
PRESENTED BY
MRS. MACKINLEY HELM
A SHORT HISTORY
OF THE
ENGLISH PEOPLE
VOL. IV
A SHORT HISTORY
OF THE
ENGLISH PEOPLE
RY
J. R. GREEN, M.A.
ILLUSTRATED EDITION
EDiTF.n BY Mks. J. R. GREEN and Miss KATE NORGATE
VOLUME IV
LONDON
MA CM I LEAN AND CO.
A N IJ N K \V YORK
1894
'I'lie liif^lil of Tiantlnlion and l\i'f>toilii<:liou it Ai-irrrnf
RicTiAui) Ct.ay and Sons, Limitf.d,
LONDON AND HUNGAY.
30
LIBRARY
/ 7 UNIVERSTTy OF CATJFORNIA
^ SANTA BARBARA
V, f
CONTENTS
PAGE
Notes on the Illustrations Ixxxiii — cvi
CHAPTER IX
\ THE REVOLUTION {conthiiied)
Sect. 5. — Shaftesbury, 1679 — 1682 1411
,, 6. — The Second Stuart Tyranny, 1682 — 1688 1431
„ 7. — William of Orange 1465
„ 8. — The Grand Alliance, 1689 — 1697 1492
., 9. — Marlborough, 1698 — 1712 1531
„ 10. — Walpole, 1712 — 1742 1577
CHAPTER X
MODERN ENGLAND
Sect. I. — William Pitt, 1742 — 1762 1607
., 2. — The Independence of America, 1 76 1 — 1782 1657
,, 3. — The Second Pitt, 1783 — 1793 171S
„ 4. — The War with France, 1793 — 181 5 1763
Ei'n,0(;uK 1829
Chronological Annals of I^nolish History 1851
(Iknealocical Tamlls 1865
Index 1875
NOTES ON THE ILLUSTRATIONS
PACK
Engraving ON Title-page OF "]\Iusick's Handmaide," 1663 1411
The Duchess of Lauderdale's Boudoir, Ham House 141 3
Ham House, Petersham, built by Sir Thomas Vavasour in 1610, was for a
time the residence of Prince Henry, eldest son of James I. In 1643 Charles I
gave it to his friend William Murray, whom he created Earl of Dysart. Title
and house passed to Lord Dysart's eldest daughtei% Elizabeth ; from her first
marriage sprang the family which still owns the place ; her second husband was
the too famous Duke of Lauderdale, and the state rooms at Ham, furnished
and decorated by the Duke and Duchess, have remained unaltered ever since.
The polished parquet floor of the boudoir is inlaid with the Duchess's
monogram, E. D. L. ; she and the Duke are said to have usually held their
inivate talks seated in the two arm-chairs in the recess.
Ham House: The Cabal Room 1414
In this room, which adjoins the boudoir, the Cabal ministry held its private
meetings. Furniture and decorations remain exactly as they were then. The
tapestry hangings represent rural scenes ; they were made for the Duke of
Lauderdale at the neighbouring tapestry works at Mortlake.
Ham House: The Long Gallery 141 5
]\'siM?,, TiVK^ o? 'Mo'suovTn {picture by Lely a( Dalkeith Palace) 1417
Banner used by the Covenanters at Drumclog and Bothwell Bridge
{Napier, " Memoirs of Dundee'^) 1418
Of blue silk, the inscriptions painted in gold, white and red. The Hebrew
words are "Jehovah Nissi," i.e., " The Lord is my banner."
'iX'SlV'El. V^EVYS {picture by John Hayh in National Portrait Gallejy) I419
Pepys (born 1632, died 1703) was clerk of the Acts of the Navy, while James,
Duke of York, was Lord High Admiral. The close relations into which they
were brought by their offices served as a pretext for Pepys' imprisonment in the
Tower in 1679 on account of the Popish Plot. Nine months later he was
released and made Secretary to the Admiralty, a post which he kept till the
Revolution. The portrait here given is mentioned by Pepys in his " Diary " ;
it was painted in 1666, and represents him holding in his hand a song of his
own composition, " Beauty, i-etire," to which he frequently alludes.
Francis North, Lord Guilford, Keeper of the Great Seal, 1680 {from
an engraving by G. Vei'tue after David Loggan) 1 420
Medal of the Duchess of Portsmouth, 1673 1423
By John Roettier. The die is in the British Museum.
George Savile, Viscount Halifax (from Houbrakcn's engraving of a picture
in the possession of Sir George Savile) 1424
Parade of Militia at Abergwili, 1684 {from Messrs. Blades^ facsimile of
Thomas Dinelcy's '' Progress of the Duke cf Beaufort through IFales, 1684"). 1426
Mkdal Struck to Commemorate Shaftesbury's Acquittal, 1681 . . . 1428
A rare silver medal, by George Bower : struck for Shaftesbury's partisans,
who wore it on their breasts. Dryden thus describes it in a satirical poem
entitled " The Medal " :
" One side is fill'd with title and with face ;
And, lest the King should want a regal place,
< )n the reverse a Tower the t(jwn surveys
' )'er which our mounting sun his beams displays
The word, pronounced aloud by shrieval voice,
/.<ctam/c/; which, in Polish, is rejoice.'''
The title of "king" given to Shaftesbury, and the word " Polish," allude
to a talc current among his enemies, that he had hoped to be elected King of
Poland in 1674.
The Lord Mayor and Court of Ai.dkrmen {De I.aune, ''Present State of
London," j68i) 1429
VOL. IV 31
Ixxxiv NOTES ON THE IT,T,U.STRATIONS
PACK
Fkosi Fair on thk Tmamf.s, 1683 1430
From a broadside (in Ihc Hrilish Museum) entitled "Cud's Works is the
World's Wonder."' In 1683 the Thames fro^'C so hard that a fair was held
upon it.
Lead and Cual JIinks \t Mustvn, .Souin Walks {/n>m JA-ssj-s. Blades,' fuc-
simile of Diucky's '■^ Progress of the Duke of BeauJ'oit"^ MJI
Wii I lAM, Lord Russei.i. {from an engraving hy Pieter van dcr Banc/;, after
Sir G. A'ncller) 143^
MoNUMKNT ui- John Martin, 1'kintkr i434
In the crypt of S. Paul's Cathedral. The inscription contains some unde-
cipherable words, but may be thus rendered: "Sacred to piety and to the
republic of letters. Near this place lie (alas ! alas ! ) the mortal remains of
John Martin, late Warden of the .... Printers" Company of N. . . . ;
"a man famous even in foreign lands for the learned books which he ])ublished,
but more illustrious at home for the higlily honourable qualities of his mind.
I le expired on the third day of May, 1680, in the 72nd year of his age. Under
here rest also his children, Henry and Mary. That this should not be unknown
was the care of his faithful wife, Sara (daughter of) Henry Graunt, citizen and
draper, who erected this monument to her worthy husband."
''The Abolition OF Monarchy."' 1436
Frontispiece to the second volume of Nalson's "Collection of .Affairs of
Stale from 1639 to the Murder of King Charles I.," 1683. Some verses on
the opposite page explain its meaning :
"Thus black look't Ileav'n, the Lightning thus did lly,
Tluis th' Hurricane oresiJied the British sky.
When th' Royal Sin'creign weather-beaten lay
On the proud Billows of the popular Sea ;
The Captain from his Cabin driven away
In that for ever execrable Day ;
From that adjacent House, behold the cause
Of "all this Tempest, whence perverted Lawes,
Unpresidented, undetermin'd Power,
Blasted our Hopes, and did our Land devour,
A Land like that of Canaan heretofore ;
Till, by mad Zeal into Confusion hurl'd,
'Twas made the Scorn and By-word of the World."
The chief value of the picture lies in the view which it gives of the e.xtcrior
of the old House of Commons.
Corporation Insignia of Coventry {Art Journal) 1437
Coventry is unusually rich in corporation insignia, including, besides a
sword and several maces, a chair of state, the town keys, and some remarkable
robes of oflice. Practically they may be said to date from the seventeenth
century, although, as they have all continued in use down to the present time,
all have been restored or renewed more than once ; in all these restorations,
however, the old pattern has been faithfully adhered to. The great mace
bears the initials of Charles II. ; the smallest is of the same period ; the third,
intermediate in size, has the arms of the Commonwealth. The sword is
two-edged, and bears the inscription, " Civitas Coventre." Above the large
mace is the hat of the mace-bearer ; at the foot of the chair is shown
the sword-bearer's cap of maintenance. On the chair lie the town keys,
and the hat of the city crier, more modern than the others, and dating
probably from the eighteenth century. His coat hangs above ; on the left
sleeve is the only ancient badge which Coventry still possesses, of silver, and
dating probably from about 1606.
NOTES ON THE ILLUSTRATIONS Ix.xxv
I'AGK
Maces, Fifteenth and Seventeenth Centuries. 1438
The first two figures (from the Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries, 1888)
are typical iUustrations of the way in which the mace as a symbol of office was
evolved out of the war-mace. When the mace was no longer wanted for fighting,
its handle was first fashioned into a knob or boss to receive the royal arms ;
then the mace was turned upside down, the head became the handle, the
llanges were converted into mere ornaments, and in course of time disajipeared,
and were replaced by a heavy boss, to counterbalance the weight of the heail,
which had meanwhile been growing in size, and to which a crown liad been
added. The first stage of this development is shown in the Southampton s
mace, where the flanged end still forms the head. In the Newtown mace
the head is formed by the broad boss. The plate on the top of this bears the
arms of Henry VH. ; it is loose, and on its reverse are engraved the arms of
the Commonwealth. The two Stamford maces (reproduced from the .-Iri
Journal) are fine examples of the complete development which the mace had
reached in the time of Charles II.
RoYAi. Order for the Expulsion of John Locke from Christ Church,
Oxford 1439
Locke, knowing that he was suspected by the Government on account of
his intimacy with Shaftesbury, went in 1683 to Holland. In November,
1684, the Dean of Christ Church, Oxford, was desired by Sunderland to
remove Locke's name from the list of Students ; a few days later came a
peremptory order, in the King's name, which was at once obeyed, and which
is here reproduced from the original, still preserved at Christ Church. It will
be noticed that neither King nor minister seems to have even known the
Christian name of the great philosopher. The conduct of Charles towards
Locke strikingly illustrates the "danger" to English freedom which lay "in
the character and purpose of Charles himself" (p. 1438).
Enthronement of James II. and his Queen {F. Saiidfoni, "■ History of the
Coronation of James 11 " 1687) 1440
The Challenge {Sandford, "Coronation of James II.") 1442
The manor of Scrivelsby, co. Lincoln, had been held to carry with it the
office of champion since the time of Henry I. at least, though tliere is no
record of the actual ceremony earlier than the coronation of Richard II. At
that of James II. the champion was Sir Charles Dymoke ; he was " coni-
pleatly armed in one of His Majesties best suits of white armour, mounted on
a goodly white horse, richly caparisoned." Two trumpeters, the sergeant
trumpeter (carrying a mace), two sergeants-at-arms, the champion's two
squires (bearing his lance and shield), and the York Herald, preceded him
into the hall. On his right rode the Lord High Constable, on his left the
Earl Marshal. The engraving here reproduced represents the first challenge
to combat of any person who disputed the King's title. York Herald is
reading the closing words of the challenge, and the gauntlet lies on tlie floor.
After a pause it was taken u]), the procession moved on, and the challenge
was repeated in the middle of the hall, and then again at its upjjcr end before
the dais where sat the King and (^ueen. The only occasion when the
challenge was taken up was the coronation of George HI., when a Jacobite in
woman s dress was said to have snatched up the gauntlet, and left another in
its place. The ceremony was last performed at the crowning of George IV.
]k'SiVS\l, {illumination on patent in Public Record Office) 1443
Ukidgewater High Cross 1445
Now taken down ; here reproduced from an engraving in the Proceedings
of the Somerset Arch;voIogical Society. The Cross stood on Cornhili, o])po-
site the entrance to the High Street, and was used as a market-place. On it
was inscribed : " Minil ycjur own l)usiness. " Over it was a cistern supplied
from a l)rook by an engine at Queen's Mill, and from this cistern water was
conveyed to tlie streets. The cnxss was also used as a jilace of assembly.
Monmouth was proclaimed king there, after he left Taunton, and his declara-
tion read by the Mayor.
Ixxxvi NOTES ON Till', ILLUSTRATIONS
PAGE
ScYTiiKS FOUND. AT Skvgvmoor {Ttm'er of Lo»(f,»i) 1446
Mounted on poles and used as weapons by the peasantry.
Battle of Sf.ogemoor {" Eiis;flaii/s Schomvtoneel verhceldende het vliigic van
Jacobus JI. &>(-.," Amsterdam, 1690) 144^
Georgk Jkkfreys, Lord Ciukf lusiicic (front an cng^ravivg by K. White
after Sir G. Kucller) " 1447
The Royal IIORSE Guards, temp. Charles II • . 1448
Krom Hollar's engraving of the coronation procession of Ciiarlcs II. Tiie
(lurirds were then commanded by the Duke of York, who is seen riding at
their head.
Medal of Louis XIV., Commemorating the Revocation of the Edict
OF Nantes {British Muscnnt) 1449
House of a Huguenot Silk Weaver in St. Peter's Street, Canter-
bury • .• • '450
From a jihotograpli. This is a typical illustration of the domestic silk-
factories set up by the French Protestant refugees in England after the
Revocation of the Indict of Nantes. The shop-window occupies the whole
front on the ground lloor ; over this is the living-room of the family, where
the weaver wrought at his trade, assisted by his sons and daughters ; higher
still, in the gable, is a tall, narrow door with two valves, opening down to
the floor of the attic, through which, by means of a small crane, raw material
and bales of finished goods were drawn up to be stored in this warehouse on
the top story.
A Calico-Printer, temp. James II. {Bagford Collection, British Museum) . . 145 1
The Pope Receiving the Ambassador of England, 1687 1452
In 1687 Roger, Earl of Castlemaine, was sent by James II. on a special
embassy to Rome. Next year an authorised " Account " of his journey and
reception was published in Italian and English, with this frontispiece and
other illustrations, by Castlemaine's secretary, John Michael Wright.
Titi.e-Page of Missal 1454
From a photograph obtained through the kindness of the Rev. Dr. Stokes.
This missal was given by James II. to John ISrenan, Roman Catholic Arch-
bishop of Cashel. Brenan, as the inscription in his handwriting on the title-
page shows, presented it to Cashel Cathedral (of which he had possession
throughout James's reign, no successor having been appointed to the Protest-
ant Archbishop Price, who died in 1685). Thence it passed with the books
left by the next Protestant Archbishop, Narcissus Marsh, to the library of St,
Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin, where it is now.
Satirical Playing-Card, temp. James II. {British Museum) 1455
Halbert (Seventeenth Century) from ^o^\^{To%ver of London) 1457
Magdalen College, Oxford, in the Seventeenth Century (//<r/«;-e in the
College, painted temp. Charles I.) 1460
The Seven Bishops [picture in National Portrait Gallery) • . 1462
The Seven Bishops going to the Tower (" Engelands Godsdienst en Vryheid
hersteld door den Heere Prince van Oranje7i," Amsterdam, 1689) 1463
Medal commemorating Victories OF Denmark over Sweden 1464
Reverse of a gold medal, struck after a triple success gained at sea by the
King of Denmark over Sweden, in 1677.
Louis XIV. and Officers OF HIS Staff 1466
From the " Cabinet du Roy," i.e., original engravings of the designs for the
tapestry and other decorations at Versailles, made specially for Louis XIV.
Qkf.\)\^k\.'^\\l\^\'ii {)ninialure by Petitot, in South Kcnsin;.^ton Museum) . . . 1467
'^l.KVi.swXL T\JY!.^l:iii'E (miniature by P. Seuin, in same collection) 1468
Louis XIV. (from engraving by P. Nanteuil, 1670) 1469
JsOTES ON THE ILLUSTRATIONS Ixxxvii
PAGE
'LoviS \l., VVLl-^CV. OF CosVit [iniiiiaiiire in Soiith A'aisiiigton Musctun) . . . . 1470
foil's 'D^\^\Tli {fro7ii an engraving l>v La/nbcrt Vische7') 1472
William III. of Orange when a child {from an etching by L. Kichcton, in
the " Portfolio,'^ of a picture by A'einbrant/t in the collection of Earl Spencer) 1474
Dutch IMusket ( Tower of London) I475
The inscription means " True to Orange until death."
French Pistoliers at the Storming of Aerdenburgh, 1672 {contem-
porary Dutch engraving) 1476
The pistoliers here depicted show that the lock has been so far perfected as
to admit of a piece being used easily with one hand. A formidable volume
of fire was delivered on a given point by lines charging, halting, firing and
•wheeling in rapid succession. The French are said to have adopted this
system of warfare from the Germans.
Palace at the Hague ; E.xterior 1478
Palace at the Hague ; Courtyard 1480
These two views are from engravings published while William IH. was
Stadholder. The palace was the residence of the Princes of Orange, and in
it were held the Sessions of the High Court of Justice, the Provincial Court of
Brabant, and the States-General of the United Provinces.
The Seven Bishops returning from the Tower {"■ Engelamh Godsdicnst,
tS~=<r., hersteld") I482
Satirical Playing-card, temp. James II. {British JMnscum) • . 1483
William of Orange landing in England {" Engelands Godsdienst, " c^'c) . 1484
" The Protestants' Joy " at the " Glorious Coronation of King William
and Queen JNIary" {Ballad in Bagford Collection, British Museum) .... 1488
Great Seal of William and Mary 1490, 1491
The art of seal-engraving, which had reached its perfection in England under
the Commonwealth, had since the Restoration been gradually declining, both
as to design and execution. This example shows that it was now fast approach-
ing the lowest depth to which it sank under the House of Hanover.
King William III. {picture by Kneller at Windsor Castle) 1493
John Graham of Claverhouse, Viscount Dundee {picture in the possession
of Lady Elizabeth Leslie- i\Ielville- Car twright 1405
The Battle-field of Killiecrankie 1496
GuE'SCO'E. {from a photograph) I^gy
]\^\'E.%1\. ■LK^Di'SG \-v\\.\^s\LK{'' Engclants Schoinvtonccl," ^'c, 1690) . . . 1499
The Walls of Londonderry {after IF. H. Bartlctt) 1500
Built 1609.
?>\V.GV. OF l^o^no^nvMKY {" Engelants Schou-vtoneel") 1501
Tabernacle and Candlesticks given by James II. to Christ Church,
Dublin iro2
From a drawing very kindly made by Air. Thomas Drew, R.II.A., specially
for this book. The Cathedral of the Holy Trinity (commonly called Christ
Church) was from the English invasion till 1870 the' Chapel Roval of Dublin
Castle. During the occupation of Dublin by Jnmes II., April, 168S— July,
1690, Mass was said in the Cathedral for the King. The tabernacle and
candlesticks then used are preserved in the crypt ; they were originally richly
gilt and decorated. The ornamental cover of the ciborium was "stolen many
years ago, and is now in the Carmelite Church, Whitcfriars Street.
Londonderry Exchange (/;w« /;-/«/?■« j9;-«V/.f/wl/«5«/w) 1503
Tlie old Exchange was destroyed in the siege ; William and Mary gave
;if 1500 towards the building of the new one here represented.
'i^l^CF. (\K\'<>n), i6c)G {South Kensington Museum) 1504
Made in 1696 by a silversmith named Martin, of Cork, for the Gilds of
that city, hut not bought by thorn, owing to a disinite about the price. The
head is given here to show that in the time of Ireland's deepest desolation the
Irish metal workers had yet lost nothing of the artistic feeling and manual skill
which had characterised their race from the very beginning of its history.
\\u.\.\'\'s\\\\. \sV\KLi\yniWV {from an engraving by A'omeynde JJooge) . . . . 1506
VOL. IV -.2
Ixxxviii NOTES OX THK ILLUSTRATIONS
TACE
NONCONFOKMIST ClIAlKI., DeAN KoW, CHESHIRE {Eancakcr, "East
Cfu-shire") 1508
Probablv the oldest Nonconformist Cliajicl in tlie huntlred of MacclesfieUl.
It was built <■. 1693, for a I'resbylerian Congregation, whose minister was
Eliezcr Birch. It is now useil by a congregation of Unitarians.
'YllV.^Ol.V.n.\\o\\V iC/iariwc/c, '' History of Marine AnhiUdine") 1510
The finest ship of the navy of Louis XI\'., or of any navy in its day ; built
in 1690 ; carried 104 guns, and lOOO men. It was Tourville"s flagship at La
llogue, and was burnt at Cherbourg by Admiral Delaval.
Medal COMMEMORATING Restoration OF Charters TO Towns, 1690 . . . 1512
In January, 1690, a bill was passed to restore the rights of all towns which
liad lost their charters under Charles and James. As the inscription on the
revei-se of the medal says, " Privileges are restored, liberty revived."
Y.isw.Kicv. F^osi THV. ^v.\ {dra-cing c. i6%S, ill Bn'tish Miiseiiiii) 1513
Carrickkergus (r/rrtTt'/w^'-c. 16^0, in British Museum) 151 3
Armoi-r WORN BY James IL AT THE BoYNE (71;T(ytv-^/Z<v.v('(V/) 1514
King Ioiin's Casti.e, Limerick 1515
Lrom a view by Barllett, made before modern changes. The castle was
really built by John ; it is now used as barracks.
Medal commemor.vitng French Victory AT Beachy Head (reverse) . . . 1517
Represents a sea-fight— " The fight at Beves " [Beachy Head], "English
and Dutcli together put to flight, lo July 1690 ; " in the foreground Louis
XIV. is reprc-sented as Neptune, and the vanquished are sarcastically admon-
ished — " Speed your flight ; to him belongs the empire of the seas."'
MoNS IN THE 1 7TH Century (/;-(W/ « Z>///(7/. /;////) 1518
The B.attle of La Hogue (from an engraving by Romeyn de Hooge) . . . . 1520
Medal commemorating Victory at La Hogue (reverse) 1521
William's reply to Louis's medal for Beachy Head (see above, and p. 15 1 7).
William, as Neptune, drives away Louis, the pseudo-Neptune, with his
trident, saying "To me it" \i.e., the empire of the seas] "is given by
Late" "The offences committed are expiated by a like punishment."
Robert Spencer, second Earl of Sunderland {from an engraving by
K. Cooper of a picture by Carlo Maratta at Alt horpc) 1524
Medal commemorating the Storming of Toubocan, 1700 1527
A gold medal, given by the African Company of Scotland as a reward to
Alexander Campbell, who, at the head of 200 men whom he had commanded
in Flanders, drove 1,600 Spaniards from their entrenchments at Toubocan on
the Isthmus of Darien, and thus for a time delivered the Scottish settlers from
danger. The obverse represents a Highlander scaling a fortress, with the
words: " What not for our country?" "Toubocan, where Captain Alex-
ander Campbell defeated 1,600 .Spaniards, 8th February, 1700." The reverse
bears the shield of the African and Indian Company of Scotland, with the
legend : " Whithersoever the world extends. Strength united is stronger."
The Mint, Bristol [Seyer, " Memorials of Bristol") 1528
In 1696 a new coinage was ordered. A tax was laid upon windows to defray
its expenses ; and in order that it might be the sooner ready, mints were set
up at Chester, York, Bristol and Exeter. At Bristol a " sugar-house "' behind
S. Peter's Church was bought and fitted up for the ]iurpose ; ^450,000 was
coined there in 1696-7 ; then the house was bouglit by the Guardians of the
Poor, "therein to employ the poor and youth of this city in spinning and
weaving cotton."' Thenceforth its proper title w^as S. Peter's Hospital, but
its older name of the Mint still clung to it in popular speech in the early years
of the present century.
Maklbokovgu {drawing by A'neller, in Britis/i Museum) I530
Silver Call-Whistle • 1531
Used to summon a household before the introduction of bells. This whistle
is English work of the 17th century ; it was dug out of a hedgerow at Reigate
in 1854, and it is the property of Lord Zouche, by whose kind permission it is
reproduced here.
NOTES ON THE ILLUSTRATIONS
PAGE
Medal commemorating First Partition Treaty 1533
The enclosure in which hangs the Ciolden Fleece is guarded by a dragon,
representing William III. ; legend, "Watchful, he disappoints the greedy
one." On the reverse, William, Lewis, and three other allies join hands over
an altar inscribed, "to J"piter, guardian of boundaries;" the legend runs,
" Agreement of sovereigns for public safety. "
Dutch Guards, TEMP. William III 1534
From an engraving by Romeyn de Hooge, in " Relation du \'oyage de S. M.
le roi d'Angleterre en Hollande," the Hague, 1692. These foot-soldiers are
armed with muskets ; the collar of bandoliers, or little cylinders containing
charo-es of powder, may be seen suspended from the shoulder. William's
Blue Guards marched across St. James's Park with lighted matches to take
possession of St. James's Palace, December 17th, 1688.
:Medal commemorating Homage of Duke of Lorraine to Lewis XIV.
1699 (reverse) 1535
Medal commemorating offer of the Crown of Spain to the Duke of
Anjou, 1700 (reverse) 1535
Satirical Playing-Card {British Museum) 1536
One of a pack designed under Queen Anne. The Duke of Anjou is repre-
sented stealing the Spanish Crown.
John Dryden {picture by Sir G. Kneller) 1537
Sophia, Electress of Hanover 1539
Reverse of a medal struck in commemoration of the Act of Settlement, 1701.
The obverse bears another female head, meant to represent ^Matilda, Duchess
of Saxony, daughter of Heniy II., through whom the Electors of Hanover
were descended from the old royal house of England.
Ensign John Churchill (afterwards Duke of Marlborough) .... 1540
From an engraving (in the British Museum) thus inscribed: "Mr de
Marleborough tel qu'il etait en 1668, quand il servait en qualite d'enseigne
dans le Regiment des Gardes francaises. Grave d'apres Van der Meulen."
John Churchill, Duke of Marlborough {picture by J. Closterman in
National Portrait Gallery) 1542
Sarah, Duchess of Marlborough {picture by Sir G. Kneller, in N'alional
Portrait Gallery) 1543
Memorial of William III. {British Museum) 1544
An unique gold medal, formerly in the possession of the Scott family, of
Ballingarry, co. Tipperary, to whose ancestor land was granted in Ireland for
his services at the Boyne. The obverse, which bears a portrait of William, is
cast and chased ; the reverse, representing the Irish harp and some military
emblems, is engraved.
S.atirical Playing-Card 1547
A satire on Marlborough's known avarice and alleged peculations ; one of
the same pack as the card given in p. 1536.
Running Footmen 1548
Reproduced for the first time, by kind permission of the Duke of Marlborough,
from tapestry at Blenheim Palace, made for the first Duke. This illustration
and that on p. 1552 are taken from the tapestry which represents the battle of
Blenheim. The figures of the footmen who ran in front of the carriage are of
special interest as features of domestic life, as no similar figures occur in
pictures of the time.
Eugene and Marlborough reconnoitring {from an engraving by Camsvelt) . 1549
The Battle of Hochstadt {from an cti^ravino by J. van Huchtenhjtrg) . . . 1550
Surrender of Marshal Tallard {repi-odnced for the first time from tapestry
at Blenheim Palace) 1552
"Mai.horouk" 1554
From a broadside in the Bibliotheque Nationaie in Paris. This illustration of
the French popular .song " Malborouk s'en va-t-en guerre," dating from the
early jiart of the present century, witnesses to the persistence of the
Marlborough legend,
vol. IV 33
NOTES ON THE ILLUSTRATIONS
PACE
Chaklks Mordaunt, Earl of Peterborough (jioiu a nuzzolint l>yj. Simon of
a picture by M. Dahl) 1557
Medai, COMMEMORATING Victory OF Ramillies 1558
A verv rare bronze medal ; reiJroduced here from an engraving in the
Mdallic' History of Williain III., Anne, &c., published in 1747, to illustrate
Rapin's History of Etii^land. The obverse represents the victory— "French,
Bavarians, and' Spaniards captured, destroyed, or put to flight all in one battle
at Ramillies, 1706 ' ; round the edge is written : " May 23. Ill-gotten gains
are not enjoyed by the third generation." The reverse represents "Brabant
and Flanders restored to their lawful ruler by the alliance of l-:ngland and
Holland." The encircling legend runs: " They shine with stainless honours.
Under this commander I preserve my country ; with him" \i.£. Marlborough]
" for my leader, I maintain the King."'
Secono Gre.\t Seal of Anne, 1707 1560, 1561
The first seal of Great Britain. On the obverse is the Queen enthroned,
with the emblems of her three kingdoms ; on the reverse, the union just
accomplished between two of them is commemorated in a wholly new design,
the figure of Britannia.
Joseph XXiXASO"^ {picture by Sir Godfrey Kneller) 1563
Addison entered the Ministry in 1706 as Under Secretary of Stale. In 1709
he became Secretary to Lord Wharton, when the latter was Lord-Lieutenant
of Ireland ^see p. 1565). He was also made Keeper of the Records, but lost
his office at the fall of the Whig Ministry in 1710.
English Squadron carrying Troops to take possession of Dunkirk
(^' History of Queen Anne,'' 1740) 1564
The Battle of Malplaquet (/;w« ///6' j-aw^) 1566
Designs for Pl.aying-cards, 1710 {British Museum) 1567, 1568, 1569
From a sheet of designs for twenty-six cards, evidently made in 1710. The
first card here reproduced shows Sacheverell in his coach and the crowd cheering
him ; the second represents the newly-elected members for London addressing
their constituents in the Guildhall ; in the third the Queen is receiving an
address from the new Parliament which met in November 17 10.
Henry St. John, Viscount Bolingbroke {picture by R'neller, at Petiuorth) . 1571
Robert Harley, Earl of Oxford {from an engraving by J. van Huchten-
burg) 1572
Emblems of the Silyersmiths' Craft, c. 1700 {Bagford Collection, British
J\Iuseum) 1573
By Robert While, who died 1704.
Invitation to a Meeting of the Goldsmiths' Company, i'jot (same collec-
tion) 1574
Advertisement of John Marshall, Optician, 1694 {same collection) . . . 1575
Advertisement of John Heaton, i'jo() {Crowle collectiot, British Mtiseum) . 15 76
John Heaton was a maker of agricultural implements. The curiosity of his
advertisement consists in its having been printed on the fro«en Thames, like
the picture of " Frost Fair " in 1683, given in p. 1430.
Printing-office, c. 1710 {Bagford Collection) 1577
Cries of London, 168S — 1702 1578, 1579, 1580, 15S1
From Cryes of the City of London, engraved by Pierce Tempest from
drawings by Marcellus Lauron (or Laroon) the elder, who died in 1702. The
first edition was published in 1688; the British Museum copy, from which
these reproductions are made, dates from 171 1.
Sir Robert W.-M.poLE (picture by J. B. van Loo, in N'ational Portrait
Gallery) 1583
The Six. Lords Pleading in Westminster Hali 1585
Lord Nithsdale's Escape 15S6
These two illusirations are parts of a contemporary broadsheet, representing
the events of the Jacobite rising in 1715-16. The six lords — Derwentwater,
NOTES ON THE ILLUSTRATIONS
PAGE
Nithsdale, Carnwath, Kenmure, Widdrington, and Nairne — who surrendered
at Preston in November 1715 (see p. 1586), were impeached in Parliament,
and condemned to death in February 1716. Derwentwater and Kenmure
were beheaded, February 24 ; Nithsdale's wife visited him in prison on the
previous night, changed clothes with him, and thus effected his escape.
Cries OF London (Tfw/^^^a?/^/ Za«;w/, 16S8— 1702) . . . .1587,1588, 15S9, 1590
Trade Label OF THE South Sea Company ( CmVtjMa// yI///5«/;«) 1591
MEn.\i. Commemorating THE Siege OF Gibraltar, 1727 1593
A very rare bronze medal. Obverse: "Gibraltar besieged, 22nd Febr.,
1727. To conquer or to die." Reverse : " But there is given a third course,
less perilous — to go away " ; a sarcastic allusion to the withdrawal of the
Spanish besiegers (see p. i594)-
Jonathan Swift, Dean of S. Patrick's, Dublin [from an engraving by E .
Scriven, after F. Bincion) 1595
Auv.xxr^DV.v. VovE {picture at Chiswick Honse) 1596
The House of Commons in Walpole's Administration (from A. Fagg's en-
graving of a picture by Hogarth and Thornhill) 159^
The chief persons represented are Walpole, Speaker Onslow, Sydney
Godolphin, Sir Joseph Jekyll, Colonel Onslow, Edward Stables (clerk of the
House), Sir James ThoVnhill (the painter), and Mr. Aiskew (clerk-assistant).
" In Place " (j-a/mVrt//rz«/, 1738, in British JlTicseum) 1600
The age-of political caricature began in England under (jeorge H. , and
instead of the half-emblematical satires, chiefly Dutch, which were common in
the preceding century, we now have a series of real caricatures by English
artists. After the Revolution of 1688, the progress of the art of engraving
made possible the effective production of caricatures, and from the time ot
George IL a number of artists were actively employed in satirizing political
intrigues. Walpole is here represented turning away from Jenkins, who shows
his severed ear (see p. 1601). Opposite Walpole sits a lady (probably his wife)
receiving a box of jewels from a Frenchman (an allusion to Walpole's alleged
secret intelligence with France). In the foreground a man burns a number of
The Craftsman in which Walpole's Bill for licensing the stage had been
attacked. A courtier pushes away a merchant holding a memorial on
" Spanish Depredations," and a pet dog tears the " Merchants' Complaint."
In the next room a man pours " ^10,000 " through a gridiron into the " Sink-
ing F'und "; and in the distance, through the open door, an English ship is
seen defeated by a Spanish one.
"The Motion" (5rt//V7Va:/ /;-«■«/, 1741) 1602
Inside the coach, crying, "Let me get out, " is Lord Carteret, who had
moved in the Lords a resolution "that Sir R. Walpole should be dismissed
from his Majesty's presence and councils for ever." The driver is the Duke of
Argyll, represented with a flaming sword for a whip, because he had supported
the motion with such vehemence that his speech alarmed his own party, and
nearly defeated its own object. Between his feet is a dog, " Bub." i.e., Bubb
Doddington, an obsequious follower of the Duke. The postillion is Lord
Chesterfield, the footman Lord Cobham. The bishop who bows to the car-
riage is Smalbroke, of Lichfield. The man dropping the " Place Bill " is Mr.
Sandys ; he had introduced in the Commons a motion for removing Walpole,
and he here seems to ascribe its failure to the rash violence of Argyll. Pulteney,
the leader of the Opposition, is seen leading his followers by the nose.
Medal Commemorating Capture of Portobello, 1739 1603
AciioN at Carthagena (ew^Taz//;/^, \iiif\,from dra-iving by H. Gravelot) . . 1604
Si a 1 1. Lotterv, X^-y) (contemporary print in British JMuseum) 1606
.V Slate Lottery, the earliest of a long series, was set on foot by Act of
Parliament in 1737, to raise money for building a liridgeat Westminster. The
drawing of the lots began on lOlh December, 1739, in Stationers' Hall ; the
hall here rei)rcsented, however, appears to be the Guildhall. The Govern-
voi,. IV 34
NOTES Ox\ TPIK ILLUSTRATIONS
PAGE
nient commissioners superintending the lottery sit at the table on the platform.
Behind them are two closed lottery-wheels, under the table is a wheel in use ;
four secretaries sit at a lower table. According to a practice which became
usual, the lots are being drawn by boys of the Blue-Coat School.
Chained Library, All Saints Chi'rch, Hkkkford {Blades, '■'■Bibliographical
Miscellanies") 1607
Interesting as the latest example of a ciiained library. The books (285
volumes) were bequeathed to the parish by Dr. W. Brewster in 1715 ; they
fill three shelves along two sides of the vestry. The chains were evidently
copied from those in the neighbouring cathedral library.
The Vicar of the Parish Receiving His Tithes 1608
The Curate OF THE Tarish RETURNING FROM Duty 1609
From engravings, 1793, by T. Burke, after pictures by H. Singleton.
'R-e.X'DlSG VooK-novs-E {Coates, " History of Reading") 1610
Built in 1727.
Y KO'SIV. ?>CHOOi. A'S'D'BY^iDO'E{dra7uing ill Brilish Museum) 161 1
This school was built in 1720.
Dean Berkeley, his Wife, and Fellow-missionaries {picture at Yale
College) 1612
In 1728 George Berkeley (then Dean of Derry, afterwards Bishop of Cloync)
sailed with his wife, her friend Miss Handcock, Sir Jjimef Dalton, Mr. John
Tames, and Mr. John Smybert, to found a missionary college in America.
Bermuda was the place fixed upon, but the home government failed to give
Berkeley the support which it had promised him, and three years later he went
back again, having never got further than Rhode Island. It was there that
Smybert painted this picture. Berkeley stands on the spectator's right ; next
him sits his wife with one of their children in her lap ; beside her sits Miss
Handcock ; James stands behind them ; Dalton is seated at the table, writ-
ing ; behind him stands Mr. Moffat, a friend of Smybert's, and furthest to the
left is Smybert himself.
GzORGEWniT'EFiEl.T) {picture dj'JVat/ianiel JPofie) 1613
John Wesley {picture by William Hamilton^ in the National Portrait Gallery) . 1615
School (yV^w T. Faber's engraving of a pictu7-e, 1739, by P. Mercier) 1617
The subject of this picture is English, although the stj-le of treatment is
French. Philippe Mercier w-as a Frenchman by birth, but he lived and worked
in England.
Samuel Johnson {from an engraving by Findcu) 1618
Hannah More (picittre by Opie, 1786) 1619
John Howard {picture by Mather Bro-wn, in the National Portrait Gallery) . . 1620
Medal Commemorating Battle of Dettingen 1622, 1623
Piper in Highland Regiment (6^;w^, '■'■ Military Antiqztilies") 1625
Soldiers i.n Highland Regiment (/;w« ^/^,^ .raw^) 1626
Medal Commemorating Battle of Culloden 1627
Fort William {old print in British Museum) 1628
The Mogul Emperors {miniature at Windsor Castle) 1630
.\ French Canadian {Bacqueville de la Potherie, " Histoire de VAmerique
septentrionale," 1722) 1632
The inscription in the corner explains that this man is "going out over the
snow to war."
"Habitation de l'ile Ste. Ckoix '' {Champlain, " J'oyages," 1613) .... 1633
This "habitation," founded in 1604, was the earliest French settlement in
Acadie. The island, now called Douchet, lies at the mouth of the river
Ste. -Croix.
Frederick II., King of Prussia and Elector of Brandenburg {from an
engraving in the Bibliothique Nationale, Paris) 1635
NOTES ON THE ILLUSTRATIONS
I'AGE
Greenwich Hospital i6j5
The English kings had long had a residence at Greenwich when Charles II.,
in 1664, resolved to build there a new palace, which was begun by Inigo
Jones, but never completed. James II. wished to convert the building into a
hospital for disabled seamen ; Mary eagerly desired to commemorate the great
victory of La Hogue (1692) by carrying out her father's project, and after her
death (1694) William took it up no less eagerly as a memorial of her. Wren
drew the plans and superintended the work without charge, saying, "Let me
have some share in a work of mercy. " His designs were hampered by the
necessity of adapting them to the existing work of Inigo Jones, which Mary
had desired to retain untouched ; but the result was a triumph of Wren's
genius. The effect of the whole group of buildings, seen from the river, is
extremely fine, and it evidently formed in Wren's mind part of a grand scheme
for giving a worthy approach to the capital, where he was already embellishing
the Tower and erecting the new cathedral of S. Paul's, and which he had
proposed to rebuild entirely according to a design still in existence, though
never carried into execution. The view here given shows the hospital as
Wren left it, with the road originally reserved from the Thames up to the
" Queen's House " (at the rear ot the hospital), built by Inigo Jones for Anne
of Denmark and Henrietta Maria. King Charles's building forms the west
wing ; behind it is " King William's building," erected 1696-8 ; opposite to
this is "Queen Mary's building," begun in 1702, finished in 1752. The east
wing (fronting Charles's building) is known as "Queen Anne's building," and
was begun in 1698, but not completed till after Anne's death ; it was here
that Admiral Byng was confined after his disgrace in 1756 (see p. 1635).
Ax Election Entertainment, 1755 {picture by W. Hogarth) 163S
William Vitt {pkiitre by Hoare) 163^
Sword-Bearer and Mace-Bearer of the City of London {map of London,
1726, in Grace collection, British Aluseuiii) \6±\
Mardol Street, Shrewsbury {Owen and Blakeway, "History of Shrcivs-
Intry") 1642
A good example of the houses which the "great middle class " in the coun-
try towns were beginning to build for themselves in Pitt's time.
TowN-HALL, Carlisle (A'/zZ/iT, " Carlisle in the Olden Time") 1643
From a drawing c. 1780 ; showing the Mayor's procession. The hall itself
was built in the reign of Elizabeth.
William Pitt, Earl of Chatham {picture by Richard Brompton, in the
possession of Ea7-l Stanhope, at Chevening) 1645
Surajah Dowlah {miniature in the India Museum) 1647
Medal commkmorating Battle of Plassey 164S
A Society for promoting Arts and Commerce, founded in 1754, caused
medals to be struck on various occasions, as an encouragement to art. The
first of these was the medal here reproduced, struck by Thomas Pingo in 1758.
Medal commemorating Battles of Rossbach and Leutiien 1649
A brass medal, illustrating English feeling towards Frederick and Maria
Theresa. The obverse hears a head of Frederick ; on the reverse he brandishes
his sword over the head of the kneeling queen.
Medal commemorating the Battle of Minden 1650
A rare brass rnedal. The obverse represents the opening of the Ixattle by
an attack on the village of Dodenhausen ; the reverse shows the victor,
Prince Ferdinand of Brunswick-Wolfcnbiittel, on horseback, with his camp
in the background,
"A View of the City of Quebec in New France in .Vmerica" ... 1651
From a drawing signed " .Margaret Cecil, 1740," in the British Museum;
interesting as the work of an Englishwoman who had somehow visited Quebec
while it was still in French hands.
VOL. IV
35
NOTES ON THE ILLUSTRATIONS
PAGE
Medal commemorating the Cavture oe Louisburg and Cape Breton . 1652
Brass ; rare, because of inferior workmanship, and thought at the time not
worth preserving. The design is, however, more interesting than those of
some much finer medals issued on the same occasion, as the one side liears a head
of Achniral Boscawen and the oilier a curious little view of Louisburg harbour
and fort.
G%yi'EV.\i. V\0\.ve. (/>ii(iirc by Si/iaal; in National Poiimit Galloy) 1653
The Capture ok Quebec {contemporary print) 1654
Medal commemorating Successes of 1759 1655
Bronze ; an illustration of the feeling towards Pitt. The reversed lily
symbolizes the defeat of France ; the lion and the horse are the emblems of
England and Hanover ; the list of the year's triumphs, with the names of the
victorious commanders, is grouped around the name of the leader to whom all
these successes were ascribed, "William Pitt, Prime Minister, under the
auspices of George II."
Fight between the "Centurion" and a Manilla .Ship {Harris's
" J'oyax'fs") 1656
In 1740 an English squadron commanded by George Anson was sent to
attack the Sjianiarcls in the South Seas. It sailed round the world ; one of the
great exploits of the expedition was the fight which took place off Macao,
21st June, 1743, between Anson in the "Centurion" and the great Spanish
ship which traded between Manilla and Acapuico, and which was captured by
Anson.
North American Traders and Indians [Gauthicr and Faden's Map of
Canada, 1777) 1657
Shah Allum, Mogul of IIindostan, reviewing East India Company's
Troops 1658
From a picture painted in India in 1781, for Sir Robert Barker, by Tilly
Kettle ; now in the possession of Mr. Robert Webb, who has kindly allowed
it to be reproduced for the first time here. The Mogul is reviewing the third
brigade of the Company's troops, from a state tent, on the plain of Allahabad ;
an officer of Sepoys is explaining to him the manceuvres.
Captain Cook {from Shenvit^s engraving, \']'&i^, of a picture by N. Dance) . . 1660
Map of the Colonies of North America at the Declaration of
Independence to face 1661
William Penn {picture in National Museum, rhiladelphia) 1661
Pine-tree Shilling of Massachusetts 1662
In 1652 Massachusetts set up at Boston a mint of its own, which issued
coins bearing for device an American pine tree. Charles II. on his restoration
was very angry at this infringement of his royal prerogative, but Sir William
Temple appeased his wrath by assuring him that the tree was meant for the
Royal Oak, and thus symbolized the loyalty of Massachusetts at a time when
England itself was in rebellion.
New Amsterdam (N.J. Visschers Map of New England and Neiv Belgium,
mid 17 Century) 1 652
New Amsterdam was the original name of the town which, when transferred
to British rule, became New York (see p. 1661).
•"A Prospect of the Colledges at Cambridge in New England"
{American print, c. 1739) 1663
These are the three old halls of Harvard College, Cambridge, Massachusetts.
On the left is the original Harvard Hall, founded by John Harvard in 1650
and completed in 1675 j ^^^ middle building is Stoughton Hall, founded by
William Stoughton in 1699; on the right is Massachusetts Hall, added in
1720.
George III. {picture by Allan liamsay, in National Portrait Gallery) 1666
Sr.ATE Coach (built 1762) of George III. {South Kensington Museum) . . 1667
Frederick the Great {print in Bibliothique Nationale, Paris) 1669
NOTES ON THE ILLUSTRATIONS xcv
PAGE
The Tschudi Family 1670
Burkhardt Tschudi, of an old Swiss family, came to England in 1718, and
founded in 1732 the famous business of J. Broadwood and Sons, the oldest
business devoted to key-board instruments in the world, and the oldest of any
kind in England that is still carried on in the very house where it was first
started. That house, known in Tschudi's time by its sign of " The Plume of
f^eathers " (adopted under the patronage of the then Prince of Wales), is now
No. 33 Great Pulteney Street, the piano factory of Messrs. Broadwood. The
picture here reproduced belongs to Mr. J- H. Tschudi Broadwood, Tschudi's
great-great-grandson, who has kindly allowed it to be photographed for this
Dock. The painter is unknown. The group consists of Tschudi, his wife and
his two sons, one of whom continued the business in partnership with his
brother-in-law, John Broadwood. The harpsichord Tschudi is tuning was
presented by him to Frederick the Great in 1 744-5, after the battle of Prague
(see p. 1623), when Frederick became the Protestants' great hero, Tschudi
being a zealous Protestant. Mr. A. J. Hipkins, the writer of the articles on
key-board instruments in the Dictionary of I\Ii(sic, has been unable to discover
this harpsichord in Berlin or Potsdam, but he there identified two other
harpsichords which Frederick purchased from Tschudi in 1766 for his new
palace at Potsdam. In 1773, the last year of Tschudi's life, a harpsichord
made by his firm was presented by the Prussian King to Maria Theresa, and
another to the Empress Elizabeth of Russia, as tokens of reconciliation ; these
Empresses, with ISIadame de Pompadour, had been Frederick's great enemies,
and as such he had set their statues on the facade of his Potsdam palace.
The Mansion House, London 1673
This and the next two illustrations are from pictures by Samuel Scott, c.
1750, in the Guildhall Art Gallery.
London Bridge and Dyers' Wharf 1674
The Fleet River 1675
*• The City Chanters" {from an engraving by S. Okey, 1775, i^f '^ pictit7-e by
John Collett) 1 679
An illustration of the " Wilkes and Liberty " excitement.
Benjamin Franklin {Medallion by Nini, in the National Portrait Gallery) . . 1681
British Stamps for America {Harper's Magazine) 1682
'^■DSWy.Vi'Qv&.V.Y. {picture by Reynolds, in National Portrait Gallery) 1683
Satirical Sketch of Burke, by Sayer, 1782 1684
" The Astonishing Coalition— neither War nor Peace" 1685
A satirical but characteristic sketch by James Gillray, the great caricaturist
of this period. The occasion of the sketch was the union of Burke and Fox
with Lord North, to whom they had been opposed, in denouncing the Shel-
burne ministry of 1783, which their coalition brought to ruin. This .and
the preceding drawing are given to illustrate the effect produced by Burke's
vehement and impassioned manner.
Wilkes before the Court of King's Bench {Gentle/nan's Magazine, 1768) . 1688
Frontispiece to the Middlesex Petition, 1769 1690
The petition was from 1565 freeholders of Middlesex, protesting against the
" despotic counsellors" to whom was attributed the violation of constitutional
rights in the matter of Wilkes's election. The frontispiece, here reproduced
from a copy in the British Museum, represents a deputation presenting the
petition to the king.
William Beckford [monument in Guildhall, London) 1691
The inscription below the statue is as follows :— " William Beckford, Esq.,
twice Lord Mayor. His speech to His Majesty King George HL on the 23rd
of ^L^y, 1770.
" ' Most Gracious Sovereign,— Will your Majesty be pleased so far to con-
descend as to permit the Mayor of your loyal City of London to declare in
your Royal Presence, on behalf of'his I'\-llow Citizens, how much the liare
apprehension of your Majesty's displeasure would at all times affect their
minds. The declaration of that displeasure has already filled them with inex-
pressible anxiety, and with the deepest affliction. Permit me, Sire, to assure
VOL. IV
36
NOTES OX Tin: ILLUSTRATIONS
I- AGE
your Majesty that your Majesty has not in all your dominions any subjects
more faithful, more dutiful, or more affectionate to your Majesty's person and
family, or more ready to sacrifice their lives and fortunes in the maintenance
of the true honour and dignity of your Crown. We do therefore, with the
greatest humility and submission, most earnestly supplicate your Majesty that
you will not dismiss us from your presence, without expressing a more favour-
able opinion of your faitliful Citizens, and without some comfort, some pro-
spect at least, of redress. Permit me. Sire, farther to observe, that whoever
has already dared or shall hereafter endeavour by false insinuations and sug-
gestions to alienate your Majesty's affections from your loyal subjects in
general, and from the City of London in particular, and to withdraw your
confidence in, antl regard for your people is an enemy to your Majesty's
Person and Family, a violator of the public peace, and a betrayer of our
happy constitution as it was established at the glorious Revolution."
" AVo\ATiciAT<" (afit:)- IF. I/o,^ari/i) .• • • ""^93
Hogarth is said to have here caricatured a Mr. Tibson, a laceman in the
Strand, well known in his day for his keen interest in politics. The picture
marks the growth of journals, mentioned in the text, and the popular interest
excited by them.
"Exact Draught of Boston Harbour" [dracuing, 1733, in British
Museum) 1694
Landi.ng of British Troops at Boston, 1768 {contemporary engraving by
Paul Revere) 1695
George Washington {picture by Gilbert Stjcart, in possession of the Earl of
Rosebery) ■ • 1698
An American Rifleman "1 , ^ „ ,,,,,. ^^ , ,,,
y{E. Barnard, ^^ History of England, il^o) ... 1700
An American General J
Fight of Bunker's Hill and Burning of Charlestown {from the same) . . 1701
Medal commemorating Washington's Capture of Boston {British Museum) 1 702
Several medals in honour of Washington and American Independence were
struck in 1 789 at the Royal Mint of Paris ; ]iossil)ly owing to the influence of
Lafayette, who had returned from America in 1783. The reverse of the finest
of these medals is figured here. It represents Washington, surrounded by his
officers, watching from a distance the evacuation of Boston by the English:
"The enemies first put to flight- — Boston recovered, 17 March 1776." On
a cannon to the right is the engraver's signature, "Duviv.," i.e. Benjamin
Duvivier, chief engraver to the Royal Mint of France. The obverse bears a
fine portrait of Washington, with the inscription, "To George Washington,
commander-in-chief, assertor of liberty — American Congress." "Duvivier,
Paris, f."
Medal commemorating Declaration of American Independence (5;wwfl'6'«,
" Medallic Memorials of JVashington)" 1703
A medal designed and engraved by C. C. Wright. The obverse bears the
head of Washington ; there are two reverses ; one consists of a tablet on which
are inscribed the chief events of American history, from the " Discovery of
North America by the English, July 3, 1497 " to the " Assault on Quebec
by the Americans, December 31, 1775 ;" the other, here figured, is copied
from a picture by Colonel Trumbull of the signing of the Declaration of
Independence.
The Liberty Bell, Philadelphia {Lossing, " Cyclopcedia of United States
History'') 1704
In 1751 the State House at Philadelphia (built 1720-44) received the
addition of a tower and belfiy, for which the Assembly of Pennsylvania
ordered "a good bell of about 2000 lbs. weight" to be cast in England, and
inscribed with these w^ords : " Proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto
all the inhabitants thereof" (Levit. xxv. 10). The bell was cast in London
and sent over, but cracked on first trial. Pass and Stow, bell-founders at
Philadelphia, re-cast it twice, and it was finally hung in its place on June 7,
1753. Its sound was the first ])roclamation of the signing of the Declaration
of Independence on July 4, 1776. In September 1777 it was taken down and
NOTES ON THE ILLUSTRATIONS
VAGR
removed to Allentown to save it from falling into the hands of the British when
Philadelphia was abandoned to them ; the seizure of bells as spoils of war,
and their employment for casting cannon-balls, being a recognised military
privilege. In 1778 the bell was restored to its place. In 1835 it cracked, and
is now preserved as a relic.
The Death of Chatham {picture by /. S. Copley, 1779, in the National
Gallery) I706
Robert, Lord Clive {from Bartolozzfs engraving of a picture by N'. Dance) . 1708
Warren Hastings {from a mezzotint by T. Watson, 1777, of a picture by
Reynolds) 1710
Surrender of Lord Cornwallis at Yorktown {Barnard, ''History of
England," \'j(iO) '7I3
The Parliament House, DxjBi.iyi (from a photograph) 17 14
Built in 1782 for the Independent Parliament of Ireland ; now used as the
Bank of Ireland.
Admiral '^oviS-ex {from an engraving by E. Scriven of a picture by Reynolds) . 1715
The Relief of Gibraltar {European Magazine, 1782) 1716
The " Discovery " {Lindsay, ''History of Merchant Shipping," from a drawing
by E. W. Cook, R.A.) • • • • "717
The ship which, under the command of Captain Clarke, accompanied Cook
in his last voyage. When this drawing was made she was being used as a
coaling-vesseLat Newcastle ; hence the addition of the steam-funnels.
"The Impeachment— The Father of the Gang turned King's Y.xi-
UEI^iCY." {after Gillray) 1718
A satire upon Burke's separation from the Tories in May, 1791 (see p. 1753).
Fox, Sheridan, and their party regarded themselves as Burke's disciples, and
now represented him as turning against and impeaching his own political
children.
Postage-.stamp, Newfoundland ■ 1718
Postage-stamp, Canada 1718
Seal of Cape Colony, Eastern Dixisio's {collection of Afr. Allan JVyoti) . 1719
Seal of Natal {same collection) 17 '9
Postage-stamp, New South Wales 1719
Postage-stamp, Tas.mania • 1719
Each of these stamps and seals bears a device typical of the colony to which
it belongs. Newfoundland is represented on its stamp by a seal, Canada by a
beaver ; on the Cape seal is figured a native with spear and shield, on that of
Natal the gnu, a species of antelope peculiar to South Africa ; New South
Wales places on its stamp the lyre-bird indigenous to its woods, and Tas-
mania's emblem is the singular animal known as platypus or ornithorhynchus,
which is found nowhere else. The stamp of New South Wales here repro-
duced belongs to a Centenary issue, designed to commemorate the hundredth
year from the foundation of this colony, in 1788.
William Vvvt {picture by Gainsborough) 1720
Charles James Fox (picture by Karl Anton Hickel, in National Portrait
Gallery)' I7-'
Front of the Old East India House 1723
This illustration, kindly lent by Mr. F. C. Danvers from his paper on
"India (Jflice Records," represents the original headquart-ers of the East
India Company in Leadenhall .Street. The escutcheon with the royal arms
and Elizabeth's motto, "Semper Eadem," shows that the facade was coeval
with the incorporation of the Company in 1600. The carved woodwork and
latticed windows may be compared with those of the contemj)orary house of
Sir Paul Pindar, engraved in j). 988. The design of the frieze .seems to be a
bold and free development of the Company's arms, figured in p. 990 ; it dis-
plays the ships, but increased in number from three to seven ; the sea-lions
again appear as supporters, though here with their heads downwards ; while
VOL. IV 37
xcviii NOTES ON THE ILLUSTRATIONS
FACE
the figure at the top doubtless represents a merchant adventurer with his
staff in his hand. The house was pulled down and rebuilt in 1726; to this
new building, again, a front was added in 1799 ; finally, the Company having
been dissolved on the transfer of India to the Crown in 1S58, the house was
entirely demolished in 1862.
A View of Bombay Grkkx in 1767 {Forbes, '■'■ Oriental Memoirs'''') .... 1724
From a drawing made by one of the Company's writers of what he saw
from his apartment at the Bunder; viz. part of Government House, the
English church, the Secretary's office, the residence of the Second in
Council, all interesting for the style of architecture ; while the daily life of
the place is illustrated by the groups on the green, the official f'nglish coach
with liveried servants after the fashion of London, the Company's troops, the
palanquin, the Bengal chair, and the hackeree drawn by a white Indian ox.
The House ok Co.mmons in 1793 {picture by Karl Anton Hiikel, in the
National Gallery) bet-ween f p. 1726 and 1 727
Waggon (/^'//(f, '' Costumes of Great Britain " 1808) 172S
Illustrates " the want of a cheap and easy means of transport " for goods,
as mentioned in the te.xt.
Aqueduct over the Irwell at Barton, Lancashire {^^ drawn and engraved
by W. Orme, 1793") '729
Weaving at Spitalfields (ZT^^ar/A, '^ Industry and Idleness'''') 1730
James V^ att {picture by Sir T. Lawrence) 1731
Sasivev Ckosivto'S {picture by Alling/iam) 1732
Richard Arkwright {picture by Joseph Wright of Derby, in the possession of
Mr. P. A. Hurt) i733
Adam Synin (from engraving by Holl of a medallion by Tassie) 1734
Token of John WiLKiiSiSoyi {IF. Bazohes Smith, "Birmingham") 1735
John Wilkinson, ironmaster at Bradley, near Wre.xham, made the first
castings for Boulton and Watt, before they set up their own foundry in Soho.
Colliery-work (/^«^, " Microcosmf 1803-6) 1735
Iron-foundry (/ww //^^ 5«;«e) 1736
Casting Cannon-balls (/ww //^^ ^awe) .... 1737
'Y-A^'L\y.Y.y.\\\\A.,V)\5'&V.\'^ {from engraving by W. Hincks,\1^-^ 1738
Bas-relief IN Wedgwood Ware 1739
Potteiy, now so universally used for all purposes of utility .and ornament, was
unknown, except to the wealthy, in the beginning of last century. Its place
was taken for domestic purposes by wood, pewter or horn. The change was
effected by Josiah Wedgwood (1738 — 1795), who, in the words on his monu-
ment in Stoke Church, "converted a rude and inconsiderable manufactory into
an elegant art, and an important part of national commerce." Born in the
humblest class, he set himself to improve upon the imperfect ware then sparsely
employed in domestic use, and, by means of experiments of a very enterprising
character in the then state of chemical knowledge, achieved the production
of earthenware, substantially such as we have it now, and called by him
Queen's Ware. The practical benefit to the community of such a new ajipear-
ance among the commodities of daily life can hardly be over-estimated, but
the invention with which his name is more particularly connected is that of the
material he called Jasper ; a fine semi-vitreous unglazed body, coloured in
severely quiet tones, and decorated with white bas-reliefs. In this form of
pottery he developed a branch of art deriving its inspiration from classic
Greece, though not directly imitative. It is peculiar in being entirely the
work of the potter, without aid from painter or gilder, and appeals to educated
taste by the beauty of its form, and the perfection combined with simplicity of
its execution. In its production he was assisted by the refined taste of 15enlley
and the genius of I'laxman. The engraving here reproduced is kindly lent by
Mr. Godfrey Wedgwood. It represents Mercury, as the god of commerce,
ioining the hands of England and France. This bas-relief was modelled by
Flaxman in 1787, to commemorate the negotiation of the commercial treaty
with France in that year.
NOTES ON THE ILLUSTRATIONS
PAGE.
The " Fourteen Stars " Tavern, Bristol {old drawing in British
Mitsettni) 1 741
This tavern, which stood at the end of Tucker Street, was a favourite resort
of the sea-captains who traded with the Guinea coast. Clarkson frequently
visited it in order to obtain from these men information about the slave-
trade.
William WiLBERFORCE (/«^««;«c«/ z« Westminster Abbey) 1742
The Fruit Barrow {from an engraving by J. Raphael Smith after H. Walton) . 1743
A good illustration of children's dress in the latter half of the eighteenth
century.
Itinerant Trades of London i743, i744. i745- 1746
Drawn by Francis Wheatley, engraved by Schiavonetti, Cardon, and
Vendramini, 1794 — 5.
Medal Commemorating THE Capture OF THE Bastille, 1789 1747
Medal Commemorating THE King's Entry into Paris, 1789 1749
Medal Commemorating THE General Confederation, 1790 1750
"The Tree of Liberty, ^VITH the Devil Tempting John Bull," {satire by
Gillray, 179S) 1754
The serpent is Fox, tempting John Bull to taste the fruit of the "tree of
liberty,"?.^., of revolution : " Nice apple, Johnny! nice apple!" John Bull
replies : "Very nice napple, indeed ! but my pokes are all full of pippins from
off t'other tree " (the British Constitution); "and besides, I hates medlars,
they're so domn'd rotten, that I'se afraid they'll gee me the guts-ach for all
their vine looks ! "
"De Quoi Vous Plaignez-vous ?" (a/?t'/- 7^(7^d/) 173S
" L'ennemi menace la France, vous vous elancez, il est foudroye I Les
peuples gemissent dans I'esclavage, ils vous tendent les bras et vous les affran-
chissez du joug qui les opprime ! ! ! Le drapeau tricolore couvre de ses plis
genereux les capitales conquises par vous ! ! ! Et vous vous plaignez ! quand
il n'est pas un mortel qui ne vous porte envie ! "
An officer is represented encouraging by this address a troop of peasant
recruits, wounded, ragged, and shod with bands of straw. The splendid
series of Raffet's illustrations of the war, one of which is here reproduced from
H. Beraldi's " Raffet," revives the finest traditions of the army of the Re»
public and of the whole career of Napoleon.
Placard OF Order for Execution OF Louis XVI 1760
This placard, which is here reproduced for the first time, has been photo-
graphed from the only one of the original placards which escaped destruction,
and is now preserved in the Musee Carnavalet. The proclamation was posted
up in the streets of Paris, and set forth the decree issued, 20 January, 1793, by
the Executive Council for the carrying out on the following day of the sentence
of death passed upon " Louis Capet," with the time appointed and the order
to be observed in the proceedings.
"Georges Tournant la Meule de Pitt" {print in the Bibliotheque
Nationale, Paris) 1 761
A French satire on Pitt and George III.
Horatio 'Sii.i.sos {picture by /. //oppner, in St. /ames's Talaee) 1762
An English Sailor i^gj
From a print, dated 1779, entitled "A Dance by the Virtue of British
Oak." The Englishman is defying a Frenchman and a Spaniard.
"Kidnapping, OR A Disgrace TO Old England," 1794 1764
A satirical picture of the horrors of the press-gang.
Recrv ITS {satirical s/:etch by W. //. Bunbury, ijSo) 1765
Napoleon Bonaparte {from an engraving- by Ficsin^er of a picture by GuJrin,
»799) ' ' 1766
"The Glorious First of June" {fnun an engraving by 7". Mcdland of a
picture painted 1 794 l>y R. Clcveley, R.N.) .... ' 1 76S
VOL. IV. j8
NOTES ON THE ILLUSTRATIONS
PAGE
Nelson at Cape St. Vincknt 1770
In this battle Nelson held the rank of Commodore. His ship, the
"Captain," after engaging with six Spanish vessels in succession, ran along-
side the Spanish " San Nicolas" and took her by boarding ; Nelson himself
boardei!
" San
from the , . . - , , .
her (piarter-deck the surrender of the Admiral and officers. The view of this
incident here reproduced was "painted under the direction of Lord Nelson
and the officers of II. .M.S. 'Captain,'" by D. Orme, "historical engraver to
the King and the Prince of Wales," and published by him in 1800.
he Spanish "San Nicolas and took ncr hy hoarding ; i\eison niinseii
ed through tlie cabin window.s. Beyond the "San Nicolas" lay the
losef," which carried the Spanish Rear-.\dmiral. Nelson led his men
the one ship to the other, captured the " San Josef," and received on
Flag OF THE "Niger," 1797 (t^w/Av/'.S'6';-w<? yI/?^5«/w) 1771
The "Niger" was the one ship whose crew remained loyal during the
mutiny at the Nore. This flag was designed at the time by the men
themselves, and presented by them to their captain, E. J. Footc.
View of Oxore Fort aftkr the Siege in 1783 {forbcs, " Oriental
Memoirs'') 1772
A fort on the Malabar coast, taken from Tippoo by the English under
Captain Torriano in January 1783, held by them against Tippoo's forces
through a siege of three months, and a blockade of seven more, May 1783 —
Marcii 1784, and only surrendered on the conclusion of jieace between Tippoo
and the East India Company, in the condition which this view displays, and
which tells something alike of the character of Tippoo's fortifications and of
the stubbornness of the English resistance.
Tippoo's Tiger (/w^/« yl///5i?«w) 1773
This representation of a tiger mauling one of the Company's servants was
found on the fall of Seringapatam (1799) in Tippoo's palace, in a room full of
musical instruments. The tiger and the man are both life-size, and both
figures are hollow. A handle on the tiger's left shoulder turns a crank ; this
works some machinery inside, which causes the man's arm to move up and
down with a gesture of supplication, while from his mouth issue a succession
of cries, to which the tiger responds at intervals by a harsh growl. A door
in the animal's side gives access to another and wholly independent musical
mechanism, consisting of an organ with a row of keys to be played on with
the hand, and two stops placed near the tail of the tiger.
Medal Commemorating THE Rati-le OF Marengo 1774
Obverse, head of "Napoleon, First Consul of the French Republic" —
"Battle of ISIarengo, 25 and 26 Prairial, year 8." Reverse: "The First
Consul commanding the Army of Reserve in person. Remember, my lads,
my custom is to sleep on the battle-field."
"Portrait of an Irish Chief, Drawn from iiiE Life at Wexford"
{satire by Gillray, 1798) 1775
The Irish Volunteers Saluting the Statue of William III. on College
Gr'EK^, DvBLi:^, ijgS {con/emporary picture by K IV/ieatley) 1776
John Philpot Curran (^ from a mezzotint by J. Raphael Smith, of a picture by
Lawrence) 1777
Curran, one of the most brilliant and chivalrous of Irish patriots, stands as
an orator among the greatest of his countrymen. In the opinion of Burke he
was " the greatest advocate that ever lived." lie acted as counsel for the
prisoners in all the great trials of 1798; and Lord Brougham declared his
defence of Hamilton Rowan to be the most eloquent speech ever delivered at
the Bar. O'Connell's judgment that he was "the most eloquent man that
ever spoke in English," is probably true in the sense which O'Connell intended
— a passionate appeal to the reason, the imagination, and the feelings. His
marvellous imagination and humour are commemorated by Byron, who
describes him : —
" wild as an yEolian harp
With which the winds of heaven can make accord."
NOTES ON THE ILLUSTRATIONS
TAGK
Henry Grattan {picture by /-'. Whcath-y, 1782, /;/ National Portrait
Caller}^ 1778
Grattan first entered the Irish Parliamenl in 1775, and became the greatest'
leader of the movement for Catholic emancipation, and opponent of the Act of
Union. In -Mr. Lecky's judgment his eloquence was perhaps the finest that
has been heard in either country since the time of Chatham. Montalembert
thought him the greatest of all modern orators. Byron's tribute to him is well
known.
" Ever glorious Grattan, the great and the good,
With all that Demosthenes wanted endued,
And his rival or master in all he possessed."
The noble personal side of his character is also marked by Sydney Smith's
words. " What Irishman does not feel proud that he has lived in the days of
Grattan? .... No government ever dismayed him — the world could not
bribe him — he thought only of Ireland — lived for no other object — dedicated to
her his beautiful fancy, his elegant wit, his manly courage, and all the splen-
dour of his astonishing eloquence .... All the highest attainments of human
genius were within his reach, but he thought the noblest occupation of man
was to make other men happy and free ; and in that straight line he went on
for fifty years, without one side-look, without one yielding thought, without
one motive in his heart which he might not have laid open to the view of God
and man."
Henry Flood {from an engraving, in Barrington s ^^ Memoirs of Ireland," of a
drawing by /. Coinerford) 1779
Flood, who entered the Irish Parliament in 1759, inaugurated the great
movement for its reform and independence. He was one of the very
greatest of Parliamentary reasoners, the finest orator whom Ii'eland had
till then produced, and by the universal judgment of his contemporaries
one of the greatest intellects that ever adorned the Irish Parliament.
If oratorically Grattan and Curran may be called the Irish Demosthenes and
Cicero, Flood may be distinguished as the Ii-ish Mii-abeau.
Illustrations of the Irlsh Linen Manufactory, County Down {"-drawn,
engraved and published by \V. Hincks, London, 1783") 1780^1790
Map OF Europe AFTER THE Peace OF LuNEViLLE to face p. 1792
Medal GIVEN TO the Indian Troops WHO SERVED IN Egypt, 1801 (Tancred,
" Record of Medals^') 1793
Obverse, a Sepoy with the Union Jack ; legend in Persian, " This medal has
been presented in commemoration of the defeat of the French armies in the
Kingdom of Egypt by the great bravery and ability of the victorious army of
England." Reverse, an English ship, with the Pyramids and obelisk in the
background.
Proclamation of the Peace of Amiens at the Royal Exchange {print,
1802) 1794
Malta (a/Zir;-/. M. W. Turner) 1795
The .\ction off Pulo Aok, 15TH February, 1804 {picture by T. Butter-
worth, in the India Office) 1 796
P'rom 1793 onwards great efforts were made by France to destroy British
commerce in the Eastern Seas by sciuadrons of heavy frigates reinforced occasion-
ally by shi|)s of the line, and aided by numerous privateers. Tlie Company
itself fitted out ships to cruise for the jnotection of trade, and an animated
warfare was carried on f<jr several years. In the East India Office there is a
print which rejjresenls the English lleet along with a strong contingent of the
Company's ships sent to reinforce it.
The ordinary vessels, however, by which the l'".ast India Comjiany carried
on the Eastern trade of Great Britain were of a size altogether exceptional in
those days. Tr.iders I)elween .\merica and luirojje averaged under 300 tons,
while a large pro])ortion of the East Fndiamen were of 1,200 tons burden,
consi(lcral)ly larger than a first-class frigate and almost the size of a small shiji
of the line. No other trading shii)s carried so formiilablc an armament for
defence against jjrivateers, though ([uite inferior in fighting power to meii-
V.)L. IV. jy
cii NOTES ON THE ILLUSTRATIONS
PAGE
of-war. The picture here reproduced represents the celebrated encounter
which toolc place on 15th February, 1804, in the China Seas between a
fleet of merchant vessels under Commodore l)ance and a squadron of French
men-of-war under Admiral Linois, and in which, as staled in an address after-
wards jnesented to Dance by the Society of Fast Indian Commanders, he and
the other English commanders, officers, and men "under the favour of
Divine Providence ])reserved these 16 sail of the Hon. East India Company's
ships, with 1 1 more belonging to the Merchants of India, from this formid-
able enemy, who had sailed from the Isles of France and Batavia for the avowed
and almost for the sole purpose of intercepting them ; a noble incitement
to provoke his valour and enterprise considered either with relation to the
value of the booty — not less than six millions sterling — or to the incalculable
loss which his success would have brought on the commercial and public
interests of the British Empire."' According to the account given by Capt.
Mahan this body of trading ships "by their firm bearing and compact order
imjioseil upon a hostile squadron of respectable size commanded by an
admiral of cautious temper though of proved courage, making him for a brief
period the laughing-stock of both hemispheres and bringing down on his head
a scathing letter from the Emperor The ships which thus ' bluffed '
Admiral Linois were none of them a match for a medium frigate." In a letter
to the Secretary of the East India Company Captain Dance gives a singularly
modest and interesting account of the manner in which his traders bore down
upon and gave chase to the French squadron with its line-of-battle ships. He
concludes with the words: "In justice to my brother commanders, I must
state that every ship was clear and prepared for action ; and as I had com-
munication with almost all of them during the two days we were in presence of
the enemy, I found them unanimous in the determined resolution to defend
the valuable property intrusted to their charge to the last extremity, with
a full conviction of the successful event of their exertions ; and this spirit was
fully seconded by the gallant ardour of all our officers and ships' companies."
For this engagement Dance was rewarded by knighthood and a pension.
The five French ships are seen on the right, formed in close line ; they are
under full sail, and are discharging their broadsides at the Indiamen. These
occupy the centre and left of the picture ; the rest of the English fleet are seen
to leeward.
The King of Brobdingnag and Gulliver {after Gillray) 1798
A satire on Napoleon's preparations for an invasion of England in 1804.
Napoleon, as Gulliver, is " manoeuvring with his little boat in the cistern,"
intently watched by King George, Queen Charlotte, and their children.
Medal Commemorating the Oath at Boulogne 1799
On 16th August the army assembled for the invasion of England swore
fidelity to Napoleon, and he distributed to officers and men crosses of the
Legion of Honour, from the casque of Bayard, which he sent for to grace the
ceremony. This distribution of crosses is represented on the side of the
medal here figured, with the date ; the other side has a plan of the positions
occupied by the different corps on that day, with some of their names, and
the legend, " Oath of the army of England to the Emperor Napoleon."
Medal designed to Commemorate Napoleon's Invasion ok England . 1799
The die of this medal was prepared in Paris, with the intention of using it
in London after the expected victory. It represents Hercules overthrowing a
merman, and bears the legend, '■'■ Ft-apph a Lomires " — " Struck in London,"
"1804." It was afterwards counterfeited in England; but the counterfeit
betrays its origin by spelling "/ra///" with only one e.
Autograph ok 'H'E.i.iO'S {Royal Naval College, Greenwich) 1800
Part of Nelson's last letter to Lady Hamilton, written just before going into
action at Trafalgar, "Monday 21st " [October] "1805." The whole para-
graph runs thus : " May the great God whom I worship grant to my country
and for the benefit of Europe in general a great and glorious victory, and may
no misconduct in any one tarnish it, and may humanity after victory be the
predominant feature in the British fleet. For myself individually I commit
my life to Him who made me, and may His blessing light upon my endeavours
for serving my country faithfully ; to Him I resign myself and the great cause
which is intrusted to me to defend. Amen. xVmen. Amen."
NOTES ON THE ILLUSTRATIONS
PAGE
Old Bristol Volunteer [Nichol/s and Taylor, ^'Bristol") 1801
In 1797 Bristol raised a Volunteer regiment consisting of ten companies of
infantry and two troops of light horse ; the Mayor was honorary colonel.
While waiting to procure regular arms, they bought up all the mopsticks in
the city and turned them into pikes with iron heads ; with these weapons they
mounted guard over the French prisoners, when the soldiers who had been
performing that duty were ordered away to meet the French invasion at
Fishguard.
Sarcophagus of Nelson {in crypt of St. Paul's Cathedral) 1802
Of black marble ; originally designed by Torregiano for Cardinal Wolsey in
his days of power, and left unused in his chapel at Windsor ever since his fall
till the body of Nelson was placed in it in 1805, when the cushion and coronet
were added.
Akber, King OF Delhi, and Sir Thomas Metcalfe [ili'iiiiiination in ludia
iMieseiiin) 1804
Delhi, the last remnant of the Mogul Empire, passed into English hands in
1803. The Moguls, whose sovereignty had long been merely nominal, re-
ceived the honorary title of Kings of Delhi, with a grant of lands, to be
managed by British officers, for their support. Akber was tlnis titular king of
Delhi from 1806 to 1837. Sir T. Metcalfe, whose dress and features contrast
so oddly with those of the Orientals around him, held various appointments
in the Delhi territories under the Bengal Civil Service from 181 3 onwards,
and was Commissioner and Governor-General's agent at Delhi, 1835-53. The
illumination, by an Indian artist, probably dates from about 1830.
Calcutta Militia, 1802 {" Gentle/nan's Magazine") 1805
Map of Europe after the Peace of Tilsit to face p. 1806
George Can.mng {bust in National Portrait Gallery) 1807
Officer of the 40TH Regiment, 1792 [S/nytkies, ''History of the Fortieth
Pegiinent'') 1808
Officer of the 15TH, or King's Hussars, 1807 {contemporary print) . . . 1808
French Eagle from the Ye^issvlk {United So-vicc Museum) 1809
Napoleon distributed eagles to the French regiments in the camp at Boulogne
in 1804, when he took the title of Emperor. The new flags differed from the
old Republican ones in having an eagle instead of a spike on the \.o\> of the
staff. A small number of these were captured at various places — Salamanca,
Viloria, Waterloo, Maida, &c. — and some of them are in public institutions
in London.
Spanish Royalist Cockavk {C/nited Service Museum) 1809
Inscribed in Spanish, " Long live Ferdinand and George III."
Major-General Wellesley {engraved l>y O. Lacour from a picture by Robert
Home, 1806; 1810
Silver Pen.ny of Washington, ijgz {Snowdeu, '' Medals of Wash inoton") . 1813
The mint of the United States was founded in 1792, and issued its first
coins in 1793. As early as 1 791, however, some experimental dies were pre-
Ijared, bearing on the obverse a head of Washington, and on the reverse the
design shown here. Washington himself objected to the placing of his like-
ness on the coinage, and in the Bill for establishing the mint it was accordingly
ordained that "an impression emblematic of Liberty" should be substituted
for the portrait of the President.
Liverpool Halfpenny, l^9■i {from a cast in the British Museum) 1813
An early .\mcrican coin, or token, used in trade with England ; on the edge
is inscribed, " Payable in Anglesey, London, or Liverpool," The other side
bears a head of \Vashington.
V.>^v.\Am '^MX.oK, i^T {.It/dnson, '' Costumes of Great Britain") . . 1814
.Midshipman, i 799 («//,?/- 7". IK A'owlandson) 1814
Procession and Cuairini; of Sir Francis Burdkiion his election for
Wkstminsiek, 1807 {contemporary print) 1816
Medal Commemokai ing Wellington's Eniry into .Madrid (South A'en-
sington Mmcum) 1X19
NOTES ON rill': IM-LSTRAIIONS
PAGE
Mkuai. c;ivkn to Amk.kican Indian Cuikks {'/'ainra/, '• /yciord of Aft-dals^') 1822
During the American War of Independence the Knglisli Government caused
medals to he struck as rewards for the Indian chiefs who adhered to the
luiglish side. This practice was renewed in the later wars with America.
These medals all bore on their obverse a bust of the King ; the reverse of the
one here figured is interesting for its design, an Indian and an Englishman
smoking the pipe of peace together — "Happy while united." The loop for
suspension is formed by an eagle's wing and a calumet, or i)ipe of peace,
placed crosswise.
lIoUGOMONT (after J. M. IT. Titnicr) 1825
Till'; " Bki.lkrophon '■ [after J. M. \V. Turner) 1827
The shij) which carried Napoleon to St. Helena.
CiiKi.SKA Pen.sioM':rs KiiADiNG Tiir. GAZETTE OF WATERLOO [picture by Sir
David Wilkie, 1822) 1828
The Hat-Finishers in CoMinNAiioN, 1820 [Place MSS., vol. i., MS. Add.
27799, British Museum) 1S29
A print at the head of a written paper of " Resolutions agreed to at a
meeting of finishers held at the 'Prince and Princess,' Gravel Lane, on
Thursday, the 25th of May, 1820." The assembled finishers fix the i)rice for
hats [\is. ])er dozen, or I2.f. per dozen, according to "inches yeoman"), and
for the finishing work ; tliey resolve that all workmen in shops where the
prices thus fixecl are not agreed to, shall "solicit their employers " and bring
their answer to another meeting, to be held a week later ; that each shop shall
send to the next and every succeeding meeting representatives in the proportion
of one for every five men ; and " that Thos. Meyers be Fined \s. \od. for the
first, and 55. yl, for the second offence of being disorderly at this meeting."
The Bombardment of Algiers by Viscount Exmouth, 1816 (picture by
George Cliambers, at the Koyal Naval College, Greemuich) 1830
Daniel O'Connei.l {miniature by B. Mulreniii, 1836, in the National I'ortrait
Gallery) 1833
Repeal Bvtto'ss [" Illustrated London Nezus," 184.;^) 1833
Town Hall, Birmingham (built 1834) 1834
A Manchester Operative (" Illustrated London A^ezus," 1842) 1836
Staffordshire Colliers ("■ J^enny Magazine," \8t,6) ■ 1836
The "Rocket" 1837
Built by George Stephenson to ccniipete in a trial of locomotive engines for
the Liverpool and Manchester Railway at Rainhill, in Octobei-, 1829, where
it gained the prize of ;^500 offered by the directors to the makers of the l)est
locomotive comi)lying with certain stated conditions. The greatest s]ieed it
attained in the trial was 29 miles an hour ; some years later it ran 4 miles in
41 minutes (=53 miles an hour). It was used on the Liverpool and Man-
chester line till 1837, thence removed to the ISIidgeholme Railway, near
Carlisle, ceased working in 1844, and was placed in the South Kensington
Museum in 1862. It has been much altered at different times ; the view here
given is from a photograph of a model at Crew e, made from drawings in the
possession of the London and North Western Railway Company, showing the
engine as it was originally built. Diameter of driving wheels, 4 ft. 8iin. ;
diameter of cylinders, 8 in., with stroke of l6iin. ; weight of engine when
empty, 3 tons 5 cw^t. ; in working order, 4 tons 5 cwt. Total working weight
of engine and the four-wheeled truck which formed the tender, 7*45 tons.
'Greater Britain" 1837
London and North Western compound express passenger engine, designed
by IMr. F. W. Webb, and built at the Company's works, Crewe, 1893.
Diameter of driving wheels, 7 feet; diameter and stroke of cylinders, low,
30 X 24, high, 15 X 24. Total weight of engine, 52 tons 2 cwt.; total weight
w ith lender, 77 tons 2 cwt. ; length of engine and tender over buffers, 54 ft.
oA in.; heating .surface, 1,505 sq. ft. 7 sq. in. The leading wheels are fitted
with a patent radial ,ixle-box to allow the engine to travel over curves w ith
safety.
NOTES ON THE ILLUSTRATIONS cv
PAGE
INlEDAL Commemorating the Bombardment of Acre 1S3S
Given by the Sultan to the officei-s and crews of the English ships which took
part in this exploit. The design represents a fortress on which flies the Turkish
ling; above are six stars, below is a Turkish inscription with date. The other
side has the Sultan's cypher surrounded by a wreath of laurel.
Chinese Sketch of an English Sailor {'■'■ Illustrated London N'cws" 1857) 1S38
Issued during the war between China and England in 1839. The cloud
issuing from the mouth of the figure is doubtless meant for tobacco-smoke.
The original has at the side an inscription in Chinese which runs thus : "This
creature appears in the Tsing-teen-heen district of Choo-chow-foo, of the
capital of Che-keang. Several troops of men surrounding it, it then changed
into blood and water. Soldiers should shoot it with fire-arms, for bows and
arrows are unable to injure it. When it appears, the people and troops should
be informed that whoever is able to destroy or ward it off will be most amply
rewarded. If the monster find itself surrounded by soldiers, it turns and falls
into the water. ^Yhen it meets any one it forthwith eats him. It is truly a
wonderful monster."
Viscount Melbourne (//t/«;-<? /y/ 5'/r 7". Zfrtwtv/fv) 1839
Great Seal of Queen Victoria 1840, 1841
Sir Robert Peel [picture by John Linnell, 1838, in National Portrait Gallery) . 1842
Lord John Russell (bust by John Francis, in National Portrait Gallery) . . . 1843
iNIedal Commemorating Defence of Silistria (Tancred, '■'■Record of
Medals ") . . ^ 1844
Given by the Sultan to the English officers who took part in the defence of
Silistria against the Russians in May — ^June, 1854. The reverse, here figured,
has a view of the fortress of Silistria, with the Turkish flag flying over it, and
the river Danube in the foreground ; below is the date in Turkish, " Hegira
1271, a.d. 1854."
Rupee of Bombay, 1675 1S45
Obverse : " Money of Bombay, seventh year of the English rule. Peace
and increase come from God." Reverse, the arms of the " Honourable East
India Company of England. " Bombay, ceded by Portugal to Charles II. in
1662 (see pp. 1345, 1329), was made over to the East India Company in 1668.
These first coins were for use in Bombay alone ; in 1676 a mint was set up there
to coin money current throughout all the Company's possessions.
Rupee of Bhurtpoor 1S45
A native coin struck just after the transfer of India from the Company to
the Crown. It bears the Queen's head and an inscription in Persian, " In the
year 1858, of her Majesty the victorious lawful sovereign of England. "
Viscount Palmerston (from an engraving by Joseph Broivn of a photograph by
John Watkins) 1846
Benjamin Disraeli, Earl of Beaconsfield {bust by Sir E. J. Boehm) . . . 1848
The Right Hon. William Ewart Gladstone {after an engraving by IT.
Bisco/nbe Gardner, from a photograph by Samuel ^. IVal/cer) 1S49
The "Union Jack" 1S50
This group of flags is designed to show the gradual building up of the now
familiar emblem of Great Britain and Ireland. At the close of the twelfth
century the English warriors in Holy Land were distinguished by the badge
of a red cross, as the Erench crusaders were by a white one. By the end "of
the fourteenth century this red cross on a white ground, known as " S.
George's cross," was the recognised badge of Englisli nationality throughout
Eurojje, and especially at sea. Under this flag (i) English .shijis sailed,
traded, and fought from the days of Edward III. to those of I'llizabelh.
.Scotland meanwhile had its own national flag, a white .saltire on a blue
ground (2) ; the saltire, or " S. Andrew's cross," being the cml)lem appropri-
ate to Scotland's ]>atron saint, while the colours were almost certainly adojited
in the fourter-nth or early fifteenth century from Erance, at that time Scotland's
close ally. In Ajjril 1606 James I. ordered that "henceforth all our .subjects
of this isle and kingdom of Great Britain and the members thereof shall bear
VOL. IV. 40
cvi NOTES ON Till': ILLUSTRATIONS
in their maintop the red cross commonly called S. George's cross, and the
white cross conmionly called S. Andrew's cross, joined together according to a
form made by our heralds and sent by us to our Admiral, to be published to
our said subjects." Thus was formed the first union flag (3). After the union
of Ireland with Great Britain, there was added a red saltire on a white ground
(4), commonly called " S. Patrick's cross." A cross, however, is not the
proper emblem of S. Patrick ; the device in this case is really the letter X,
part of the sacred monogram of the Labarum, and while its form may thus
have been handed down from the earliest days of Irish Christianity, its colours
are those of England, introduced by the Anglo-Norman settlers of the Pale.
At the beginning of the eigliteenth century, however, this so-called "cross of
S. Patrick" was recognised as the Irish ilag, and as such it was, in 1801, in-
corporated in the flag of Great Britain and Ireland (5), now known as "the
"Union Jack." The word "Jack," used in this sense, is sometimes said to
be derived from " Jacolius," the Latin form of James, and supposed to allude
to the union of England and Scotland under James I. It seems, however, to
have had another and a far earlier origin. In 1386 Richard II., when about to
invade Scotland, ordered that " everi man of what estate, condicion or nacion
thei be of, so that he be one of oure partie, here a signe of the amies of S.
George, large, both before and behynde, upon parell that yff he be slayne or
wounded to deth, he that hath so doon to hym shall not be ])utte to deth for
defaulte of the crosse he lacketh " : — i.e., the soldiers of England were to
make themselves known, like their forefathers in Holy Land, by the cross of
S. Gccrge on their tunics or surcoats — an order which was renewed under
Henry VI. ; and as early as 1375 these wadded, quilted, or leathern tunics
worn by the common soldiers were known Ti^ Jacks. In the sixteenth century
the word had another application. In 1575 there is an account " for making
1,500 Jackes, plated before, for furniture of the Queene's ma'''=^ shippes." The
details of the account show that these were shield-like defences, made of
leather stretched over frames, stuffed inside, and strengthened externally (as
the men's jacks also were sometimes) with iron plates. A whole row of them,
looking like shields, and all marked with the cross of S. George, is shown on
each quarterdeck along the sides of the king's ship in the picture at Windsor
representing Henry \TII.'s embarkation for France in 1520, and also in
Anthony's picture of the Harry-Grace-a-Dieu, 1512, reproduced in p. 612
above. The two kinds of "jacks " — those of the ships and those of the men —
are in fact illustrated side by side in pp. 612 and 613. It is easy to see how
the name would get transferred from soldier's tunic and ship's furniture to the
cross of S. George, which was the distinguishing badge of both, and thence to
the flag on which that cross was emblazoned more conspicuously still.
Map of London (Z^/zV, '■^ History of Londoii") Frontispiece to Vol. IV.
CORRECTIONS AND ADDITIONS
VOL. I
P. i, note on S. Matthew, from the Book of Kells, p. i, the sentence beginning
" Usher's library" should read : " Usher's library, bought by the English army
and the State in 1656 for a proposed new college at Dublin, wa» given by
Charles II. to Trinity College, where," <S:c.
P. iii, note on S. Luke the Evangelist, p. 32, add at end of note : "Probable date,
seventh century. "'
P. V, note on David and his choir, p. 64, add at end : " The figures are of Roman or
Byzantine character. "
P. vi, lines' 6-8 of note on Beginning of Book of Exodus, p. 80, for sentence beginning
"There is good reason" read: "The volume numbered 105:1 6 among the
Additional MSS. in the British Museum is probably a sumptuous copy made
in the next generation." Add at end of note: "with two lines of the
minuscules."
P. vi, last two lines of note on Moses giving the Eaw, p. 81, for " actual portraits of"
read : " identified with " ; and add after " Holy Writ " : " The Sons of Israel
are in the garb of Roman senators."
P. vi, note on coin of Ecgberht, p. 82, for "Edward I." read " Henry III."
P. vii, lines 2 — 4 of note on S. John the Evangelist, p. 102, read "Presented by the
Saxon King, Otto I., to his brother-in-law, .(Ethelstan, who — according to
an inscription added in the fifteenth century — destined it for use at the
crowning," &c.
P. ix, the second note on Agriculture, p. 125, and the three following notes should
read : —
" Agriculture 125
Ploughing 126
Making wattled enclosure 126
Sailing vessels and boats 127
All from MS. Harleian 6oj (British Museum), a Psalter, English work of the
eleventh century, with drawings imitated in a larger and more vigorous style
from those in the Utrecht Psalter, a work of the eighth or ninth century, probably
written in Northern Gaul. The wattled enclosure is not in the Utrecht MS.,
and therefore really represents the making of an old English 'burh. ' The boats
are copied, but the English artist has much improved the insignificant cherubs'
heads of the original, adding wings and the breath coming from their mouths."
P. xi, first two notes should read : —
" Milking and churn, A. I>. 1130 — 1174 170
Weaving, A.T). 1130— 1174 171
From MS. Trinity College. Cambridge," &c. For sentence beginning
" The small drawings " read : " It is. like MS. Had. 603 (see above, p. ix),
a copy of the Utrecht Psalter, but more freely treated. The milking and
churn seem to be original, and therefore English. In the weaving new details
are added in Eadwine's copy."
P. xi, notes on Building and Group round a table, p. 173, should read : —
"liuildrng I f^MS. Harl. (iO\, after Utrecht rsaltcr) 173
Group round a table J * J' v ' 'J
The fortification is after the Roman manner, as in the Utrecht M.S. The
table is Roman ; the figures have been added and are English."
P. xi, note on Men in Prison and in Slocks, p. 178, add: " luiglish ; not in Utrecht
Psalter."
CORRECTIONS AM) ADDll'IOXS
P. xi, note on (hj^aii, p. 1S2, aiKl : "Copied from the Utrcchl I's.ilter."
P. xi, note on The Exchequer, jx 184, first two lines should read : " Better drawn than
the original in the I'Uvcht Psalter; the headgear of the jiresiding officer is
altered from the crown with halls on it given in the Utrecht MS. The picture
illustrates the weighing of the money received at the Exchequer, which was
customary under Ilenry I. and Bisho]) Roger."
P. xii, note on Frithstool, p. 203, last sentence should read : " The llcxham frithstool
dales from the twelfth centur)-. Only one other now remains in England, at
Beverley Minster."
P. xiii, note on Seal of Les Andelys, p. 215, should read : " This seal, in the collection
of the late Rev. S. S. Lewis, dates from the English re-conquest of Normandy
in the fifteenth century. The castle figured on it is probably meant for a con-
ventional representation of Chateau-Gaillard, the head of the lordship of Les
Andelys ; the armorial bearings are those adopted by the English kings as
claimants of the Crown of France."
P. xiv, note on Hedgehogs and Mushroom, ]i. 226, for " Mushroom " read "Trees."
P. xiv, note on the Great Charter, p. 241, should read : " Four contemporary copies of
the charter remain ; one at Lincoln, one at Salisl)ury, two in the British
Museum. The facsimile, reduced to rather more than a third of the original
size, is from one of these last ; the other, which alone of the four has ' the royal
seal still hanging ' from it (see p. 240), is so 'injured by age and fire' as to be
illegible."
P. xviii, note on Facsimile from Red Book of llergest, p. 307, for "now in Jesus
College" read "now in the Bodleian library, but belonging to Jesus College."
P. xix, note on Brass in Gorleslon Church, p. 332, should read : " I'robably one of the
Bacon family, c. 1320."
P. xxiii, note on Venice, p. 387, should read : —
'' Venice {/ro/i/is/>iece fo MS. Bo(//. M/.sr. 264, -p^irt in) 387
The official account in the Bodleian attributes this French History of Marco
Polo's travels to an English scribe and a French artist, late in the fourteenth
century. According to the high authority of Mr. R. Holmes, Librarian at
Windsor Castle, MS. and illuminations are English work of the fifteenth
century."
P. xxiii, note on Bridge over Esk, p. 388, for "early" read "late."
P. xxiii, add at end of note on Musicians and Audience, p. 396 : " The portative was a
wind instrument with keyboard and bellows."
P. xxiv, line l, for " Violin " read " Viol."
P. xxiv, line 3, for " Lute " read " Cittern."
P. XXV, note on English soldiers scaling a fortress, p. 442, c/e/e "temp. Edward IH.,"
and for " early in the fourteenth century" read "in the fifteenth century."
P. XXV, note on the House of Lords, p. 445, for " 1274" read " 1277."
P. XXV, note on Brass of Sir Robert Attetyc, p. 446, should read : —
"Brass in Barsham Church, Suffolk [Siicklini^'; " Hisfpiy of Siiffolk""). 446
Date c. 141 5. Prol)ably Sir John Suckling."
P. XXV, last note, for " Brasse " read " Brass."
P. xxvi, note on A Pope in Consistory, p. 454, should read : —
" Pope and Cardinals {MS. Add. 23923, Brilish Mitseitni) 454
This illumination is of Italian workmanship ; it forms the headpiece to a copy
of the Decretals of Jioniface VHL, who died in 1303. The Pope, however, is
represented wearing the triple tiara, which was not yet in use in Boniface's
time, and the MS. dates from about 1380."
Pp. 4, 5, II. 42, 43, titles under cuts, for " Early Civilization of Sweden" read " Civili-
zation of Sweden."
P. 47, title under cut, for " Penda" read " Peada "
1'. 69, line 7, for " /Elhebald " read " .^Ethelbald."
P. 102, title under cut, for "Otto H." read " Otto L"
P. 116, ,, ,, " Noak " read " Noah. "
P. 215, ,, ,, "Late thirteenth or early fourteenth century" read "Fif-
teenth century."
P. 226, title under cut, for " Mushroom" read " Trees."
P. 252, line I, insert full stoj) after "Osney."
P. 307, title under cut, for "now in Jesus College, Oxford," read "now belonging to
Jesus College, Oxford ; exhibited in Bodleian Library."
P. 332, title under cut, for "end of thirteenth century '" read "early fourteenth century."
Title under plate facing p. 387, dele "A.D. 1338."
CORRECTIONS AND ADDITIONS
P. 388, title under cut, for " early" read "late."
P. 396, ,, ,, ,, "cornet and virginals" read "shawm and portative."
V. 396, ,, ,, ,, " Violin" read " Viol."
P. 397, ,, ,, ,, " Lute" read " Cittern."
P. 442, ,, ,, rf'(?/e " Temp. Edward III.," and for "fourteenth" read "fif-
teenth."
P. 446, title under cut, dc-/e " of Sir Robert Attetye," and for " c. 1380 " read " c. 1415."
P. 454, ,, ,, for "early" read "late."
VOL. II
P. xxvii, first note should read : —
"The Knight of the Wheelbarrow, A.D. 1338-44 (MS. Bodl. Misc.
264) 469
Probably being brought home from the inn."
P. xxvii, note in second illustration in p. 481, for " Swan-hopping" read "Shoeing a
swan ; a mediaeval jest."
P. xxviii, note on David and his choir, p. 503, the sentence beginning "The psaltery"
should read : " The psaltery, held on the knees, was now superseding an
earlier stringed instrument called the rote (a descendant of the lyre), which is
shown in pp. 64 and 72, and which developed later into the Welsh crwth. The
harp," &c.
P, xxxviii, note on shrine of S. Thomas de Cantelupe, p. 701, should read : " S. Thomas
de Cantelupe, Bishop of Hereford, was the last canonized Englishman. His
shrine, erected in'1287 — five years after his death, and twenty years before his
canonization at Rome — is one of the three," &c.
P. xlv, note on Bedstead, page 791, should read: "In South Kensington Museum;
formerly at Turton Tower, Lancashire, and said to have been given by a King
of France to an Earl of Devon. No coronet however surmounts the Courtenay
arms carved on the frieze ; and on the footboard is the date 1593, twenty-seven
years after the death of the last Earl of Devon. The bedstead was in all likeli-
hood made in England for one of the Courtenay family."
P. xlvii, note on The Shepherd's Calendar, pp. 849-854, for " 1597" read "1579"
twice.
P. liii. line 16, for " 1501 " read " 1581."
P. 469, title under cut, for "The Lady of the Manor" read " The Knight of the Wheel-
barrow."
P. 48 1, title under cut, for "Swan-hopping" read "Shoeing a Swan; a mediceval
proverb."
P. 495. line 2 from foot, for "very" read " wery."
P. 585. line 5, for " logitimated " read " legitimatized."
P. 660, title under cut, for " The Dancing Picture" read " Courtiers Dancing," and dele
" by Holbein and Janet."
P. 745, line 9 from foot, insert comma after " Suffolk."
Pp. 849-854, titles under cuts, for " 1597 " read " 1579."
VOL. Ill
p. Ix, last note, for " History England " read " History of England."
P. ixiii, note on Facsimile, p. 1104, for " Solemn League and Covenant " read " Scottish
National Covenant."
P. Ixvi, lines 3-16 of note on " A Lovely Company," pp. 1162-1166, should read : " This
house— now used as a convalescent home in connexion with the Hospital for Sick
Children in Great Ormonde Street — once belonged to John Ireton, alderman of
London, and brother of Henry Ireton, who was Cromwell's son-in-law. One of
the rooms has on its ceiling (partly burnt in 1865, ^'"t restored) a coat-of-arms
which seems to be that of the Ireton family. The monogram I. C, on a mantel-
piece in another room, and the same initials, with a small O between them, <m
a boundary stone let into the garden wall, have been supposed to rciucsent
" Ireton " and " Cromwell ; " but it is much more probable that while the I
may stand for either "Ireton" or "John," the C represents either the surname
CORRECTIONS AND ADDITIONS
or the Christian name of the alderman's wife, and that the house, said to have
been originally built in 1630, was re-decorated by him. The persistent but
apparently groundless local tradition that it was the home of his soldier brother
may well have been suggested by the character of the decorations. Two figures
were destroyed at the Restoration ; the nine which," &c.
T. Ixviii, note on The Humble Petition, p. 1196, for "Jock of Bread"" read "Jock of
Braid Scotland."
P. Ixviii, note on S. Laurence's Gate, Drogheda, p. 1210, for " This and one other gate"
read " This, one other gate, and a fine piece of the south wall."
P. Ixix, note on Light Horseman, p. 1222, add at end: "and that the skirt should be
rather longer."
P. Ixxii, line 4 of note on Facsimiles of Irish M.SS., p. 1252, for "sprung" read
"sprang."
P. Ixxiii, note on Autograph of Cromwell, p. 1258, .should read : " Scrawled on a peti-
tion of the East India Company, November, 1657, and interesting as showing
Cromwell's desire 'for the incoragement of the East India Trade.' The
tremulous hand is very unlike his firm, bold writing in earlier days, and indicates
how his health was failing."
P. Ixxiv, note on Ampulla, p. 1286, before "the kings of England "' insert "the
Emperor."
P. Ixxvii, line 10 of note on Mace of the Bailiff of Jersey, pp. 1318, 1319, for " Casteret"
read " Carteret."
P. 957, margin, for " 1592" read " 1572."
P. 1104, title under cut, for " Solemn League and Covenant"' read " Scottish National
Covenant.''
P. 1 196, title under cut, for "Jock of Bread " read "Jock of Braid Scotland."
VOL. IV
P. xc, note on Advertisement of John Heaton, p. 1576, for " was a maker of agricul-
tural implements " read " seems to have been a printer."
P. xcii, add to note on the IMogul Emperors, p. 1630 : "The Emperor seated in the
middle is Timur ; on his right are Baber, Akbar, Shah Jehan, Muhammad Shah,
Ahmed Shah, and Alamgir II. ; on his left, Humayun, Jehangir, Aurungzib,
Bahadur Shah, and Farokhsir. The buildings in the distance are some of their
works, among them the Taj Mahal and the Jumna Musjid."
P. xcv, note on the Tschudi Family, p. 1670, for " Elizabeth " read " Catherine" ; put
semicolon instead of full stop after " reconciliation " ; dele last sentence (" These
Empresses," &c. ), and read : "the three sovereigns having just divided Poland
among them, and thus become allies."
A SHORr HISTORY
OF THE
ENGLISH PEOPLE
TITLE-PAGE OF MUSICK's HANnMAIDE, l66:
^
THE REVOLUTION
Section V. — Shaftesbury, 1679— 1682
[Autho}-ities. — As before. We may add for this period Earl Russell's Life
of his ancestor, William, Lord Russell.]
The new Parliament was elected in a tumult of national
excitement. The members were for the most part Churchmen
and country gentlemen, but they shared the alarm of the country,
and even before their assembly in March their temper had told on
the King's policy. James was sent to Brussels. Charles began to
disband the army and promised that Danby should soon withdraw
from ofifice. In his speech from the throne he asked for supplies
to maintain the Protestant attitude of his Government in foreign
affairs. liut it was impossible to avert Danby's fall. The
Commons insisted on carrj-ing his impeachment to the bar of
the Lords. It was necessary to dismiss him from his post of
Treasurer and to construct a new ministry. Shaftesbury became
President of the Council. The chiefs of the Country party, Lord
Russell and Lord Ca\endish, t(K)k their seats at the board with
Lords Holies and Roberts, the oUler rcpresentati\cs of the I'rcsb}--
VOL. IV — rART 31 4 \
Sir
William
Temple
The AVtc
Miiiisirv
141-^ HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE chap.
Sec. V terian party which had merged in the general Opposition. Savilc,
Shaftes- Lord Halifax, a.s yet known only as a keen and ingenious speaker,
1679 entered the ministry in the train of Shaftesbury, with whom he
1682 ^vas connected ; Lord Sunderland was admitted to the Council ;
while Lord Essex and Lord Capel, two of the most popular
among the Country leaders, went to the Treasury. The recall of
Sir William Temple, the negotiator of the Triple Alliance, from
his embassy at the Hague to fill the post of Secretary of State,
promised a foreign policy which would again place England high
among the European powers. Temple returned with a plan of
administration which, fruitless as it directly proved, is of great
importance as marking the silent change which was passing over
the Constitution. Like many men of his time, he was equally
alarmed at the power both of the Crown and of the Parliament.
In moments of national excitement the power of the Houses
seemed irresistible. They had overthrown Clarendon. They had
overthrown Clifford and the Cabal. They had just overthrown
Danby. But though they were strong enough in the end to
punish ill government, they showed no power of securing good
government or of permanently influencing the policy of the Crown.
For nineteen years, with a Parliament always sitting, Charles as far
as foreign policy went had it pretty much his own way. He had
made war against the will of the nation and he had refused to
make war when the nation demanded it. While every Englishman
hated France, he had made England a mere dependency of the
French King. The remedy for this state of things, as it was
afterwards found, was a very simple one. By a change which we
shall have to trace, the Ministry has now become a Committee of
State-officers, named by the majority of the House of Commons
from amongst the more prominent of its representatives in either
House, whose object in accepting office is to do the will of that
majority. So long as the majority of the House of Commons
itself represents the more powerful current of public opinion it is
clear that such an arrangement makes government an accurate
reflection of the national will. But obvious as such a plan may
seem to us, it had as yet occurred to no English statesman. Even
to Temple the one remedy seemed to lie in the restoration of the
Royal Council to its older powers. This bod}', composed as it
IX
THE REVOLUTION
1413
was of the great officers of the Court, the royal Treasurer and
Secretaries, and a few nobles specially summoned to it by the
sovereign, formed up to the close of Elizabeth's reign a sort of
deliberative assembly to which the graver matters of public
Sec. V
Shaftes-
bury
1679
TO
I6S2
Temple
and his
Council
TIIF. DUCHESS OF LAUDERDAI.E's BOUDOIR, HAM HOUSE.
administration were commonly submitted by the Crown. A
practice, however, of previously submitting such measures to a
smaller body of the more important councillors must ahva\s ha\e
existed ; and under James this .secret committee, which was linn
4 \ -
1414
UlSTORV OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE
CHAP.
Ul'RV
1679
TO
1682
Sec. V known as the Cabala or Cabal, began almost wholly to supersede
Shaftes- the Council itself. In the large and balanced Council which was
formed after the Restoration all real power rested with the
"Cabala" of Clarendon, Southampton, Ormond, Monk, and the
two Secretaries ; and on Clarendon's fall these were succeeded by
Clifford, Arlington, Buckingham, Ashley, and Lauderdale. By a
mere coincidence the initials of the latter names formed the word
"Cabal," which has e\cr since retained the sinister meaning their
unpopularity gave to it. The effect of these smaller committees
had undoubtcdl}' been to remove the check A\hich the larger
THE "CM A
•M. HAM HOUSE.
numbers and the more popular composition of the Royal Council
laid upon the Crown. The unscrupulous projects which made the
Cabal of Clifford and his fellows a by-word among Englishmen
could never have been laid before a Council of great peers and
hereditary officers of State. To Temple therefore the organization
of the Council seemed to furnish a check on mere personal
government which Parliament was unable to supply. For this
purpose the Cabala, or Cabinet, as it was now becoming the
fashion to term the confidential committee of the Council, was
abolished. The Council itself was restricted to thirty members
IX
THE REVOLUTION
1415
and their joint income was not to fall below ;^300,000, a sum little
less than what was estimated as the income of the whole House of
Commons. A body of great nobles and proprietors, not too
numerous for secret deliberation, and wealthy enough to counter-
balance either the Commons or the Crown, would form. Temple
hoped, a barrier against the violence and aggression of the one
power, and a check on the mere despotism of the other.
The new Council and the new ministry gave fair hope of a wise
and patriotic government. But the difficulties were still great.
Sec. V
Shaftes-
BL'RY
1679
T(_>
I6S2
The Ex-
clusion
Bill
5^ ' ^ "" 1
THE LONG GALLERY, HAM HOUSE.
The nation was frenzied with suspicion and panic. The elections
to the Parliament had taken place amidst a whirl of excitement
which left no place for candidates of the Court. The appointment
of the new ministry, indeed, was welcomed with a general burst of
joy. l^ut the question of the Succession threw all others into the
shade. At the bottom of the national panic la\^ the dread of a
Catholic King, a dread which the after history of James full}-
justified. Shaftesbury was earnest for the exclusion of James, but
as yet the majorit)- (jf the Council shrank from the stcj), ami
141 6 HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE chap.
Sec. V supported a plan which Charles brought forward for preserving the
Shaftks- rights of the Duke of York while restraining his powers as
BURY °
1679 sovereign. By this project the presentation to Church livings was
16S2 to be taken out of his hands on his accession. The last Parliament
The Bill of of the preceding reign was to continue to sit ; and the appointment
Sccuntus ^^ ^^jj (^-o^ijicillors, Judges, Lord-Lieutenants, and officers in the
fleet, was vested in the two Llouses so long as a Catholic sovereign
was on the throne. The extent of these provisions showed the
pressure which Charles felt, but Shaftesbury was undoubtedly
right in setting the plan aside as at once insufficient and impracti-
cable. He continued to advocate the Exclusion in the royal
Council ; and a bill for depriving James of his right to the Crown,
and for devolving it on the next Protestant in the line of succession,
was introduced into the Commons by his adherents, and passed the
House by a large majorit}'. It was known that Charles would use
his influence with the Peers for its rejection, and the Earl therefore
fell back on the tactics of P}'m. A bold Remonstrance was pre-
pared in the Commons. The City of London was ready with an
address to the two Houses in favour of the bill. All Charles could
do was to gain time by the prorogation of the Parliament, and by
its dissolution in ]\Iay.
Mon- But delay would have been useless had the Country party
mouth remained at one. The tcmjxjr of the nation and of the House of
Commons was so hotly pronounced in favour of the exclusion of
the Duke, that union among the ministers must in the end have
secured it and spared England the necessity for the Revolution of
1688. The wiser leaders of the Country party, indeed, were already
leaning to the very change which that Revolution brought about.
If James were passed over, his daughter Mary, the wife of the
Prince of Orange, stood next in the order of succession : and the
plan of Temple, Essex, and Halifax after the failure of their bill of
Securities, was to bring the Prince over to England during the pro-
rogation, to introduce him into the Council, and to pave his way to
the throne. Cnhappih' Shaftesbury was contemplating a very
different course. He distrusted the Prince of Orange as a mere
adherent of the royal house, and as opposed to any weakening of
the royal power or invasion of the royal prerogative. His motive
for setting aside William's claims is probably to be found in the
THE REVOLUTION
1417
maxim ascribed to him, that " a bad title makes a good king." sec. v
Whatever were his motives, howev^cr, he had resolved to set aside Shaftes-
bury
the claims of James and his children, as well as William's own 1679
TO
1682
JAMKS, DUKK OF MONMOU'I II.
Picture by Sir Peter Lcly at Dalkeith Palac
claim, and to place the Duke of Monmouth on the throne.
Monmouth was reputed to be the eldest of the King's bastards,
a weak and worthless [jrofiigate in temper, but jxipular through his
I4i8
HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE
CHAr.
Sec. V personal beauty and his reputation for bravery. The tale was set
about of a secret marriage between the King and his mother ;
Shaftesbur\- inthiccd Charles to put the Duke at the head of the
troops sent to repress a rising of the Covenanters in the west of
Scotland, and on his return pressed the King to give him the com-
Shaftes-
BL'RV
1679
TO
1682
lo^casr^BB^ifiatis^ ^
(0
fe5F0iM£t!W,E™iisw'¥!Cfyij
BANNER USED BY TIIK COVENANTERS AT DRUMCLOfi AND liOTIIWELI,
BRIG, 1679.
Napier, ^' Jilcntoirs of Dundee."
Shaftes-
bury's
Second
Dismissal
mand of the Guards, which would have put the only militar}- force
possessed b)- the Crown in Monmouth's hands.
Sunderland, Halifax, and Essex, however, were not only steadily
opposed to Shaftesbury's project, but saw themselves marked out
for ruin in the event of Shaftesbury's success. They had advised
the dissolution of the last Parliament ; and the Earl's anger had
vented itself in threats that the advisers of the dissolution should
pay for it with their heads. The danger came home to them when
a sudden illness of the King and the absence of James made
Monmouth's accession a possible contingency. The three ministers
at once induced Charles to recall the Duke of York ; and though
he withdrew to Scotland on the King's recover}-, Charles deprived
IX
THE REVOLUTION 141 9
Monmouth of his charge as Captain-General of the Forces and SEa_v
ordered him Hke James to leave the realm. Left alone in his cause shaftes-
1679
TO
1682
SAMITF.I, PEPYS.
Imprisoned in the Tower, 1679, during the panic of the Popish
Picture by John Hayls, in the National Portrait Gallery.
by the opposition of his colleagues, Shaftesbur>- threw himself more
and more on the support of the Plot. The prosecution ol its
'. L^^atif ad iffi/tcnt^ cCe^V'
6r T'irtue tScu^.
FRANCIS NORTH, LORD GUILFORD, KEEPER OF THE GREAT SEAL, 1680.
Fj-otn an engraving by C. Vertue after David Loggan.
CHAP. IX
THE REVOLUTION 142 1
victims was pushed recklessly on. Three Catholics were hanged sec. v
in London. Eight priests were put to death in the country. Pur- ^"^y^^^"
sui\ants and informers spread terror through every Catholic 1679
TO
household. He counted on the reassembling of the Parliament to 1682
bring all this terror to bear upon the King. But Charles had
already marked the breach which the Earl's policy had made in
the ranks of the Country party. He saw that Shaftesbur}- was
unsupported by any of his colleagues save Russell. To Temple,
Essex, or Halifax it seemed possible to bring about the succession
of IMary without any violent revolution ; but to set aside not only
the right of James but the right of his Protestant children, and even
of the Prince of Orange, was to ensure a civil war. It was with
their full support therefore that Charles deprived Shaftesbury of his
post of Lord President of the Council. The dismissal was the Oct. 1679
signal for a struggle to whose danger Charles was far from blinding
himself. What had saved him till now was his cynical courage.
In the midst of the terror and panic of the Plot men " wondered to Shaftes-
billy's
see him quite cheerful amidst such an intricacy of troubles," says struggle
the courtly Rercsb}-, " but it was not in his nature to think or
perplex himself much about anything." Even in the heat of the
tumult which followed on Shaftesbury's dismissal, Charles was seen
fishing and sauntering as usual in Windsor Park. But closer
observers than Rcrcsby saw beneath this veil of indolent unconcern
a consciousness of new danger. " From this time," says Burnet,
" his temper was observed to change very visibly." He became in
fact " sullen and thoughtful ; he saw that he had to do with a
strange sort of people, that could neither be managed nor fright-
ened." But he faced the danger with his old unscrupulous cool-
ness. He reopened secret negotiations with France. Lewis was
as alarmed as Charles himself at the warlike temper of the nation,
and as anxious to prevent the assembly of a Parliament ; but the
terms on which he offered a subsidy were too humiliating even for
the King's acceptance. The failure forced him to summon a new
l*arliament ; and the panic, which Shaftcsbiny was busil)' feeding
with new tales of massacre and invasion, returned members even
more violent than the members of the House he had just dismissed.
A host of petitions called on the King to suffer Parliament to meet
at the opening of 1680. ]*l\en the Council shrank from the King'.s
^42 2 HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE chap.
Sec. V proposal to prorog^uc its assembly to November, 1680, but Charles
Sh^es- persisted. Alone as he stood, he was firm in his resolve to gain
1679 time, for time, as he saw, was workiiiL;- in his favour. The tide of
1682 public s)-mpathy was beginning to turn. The perjury of Gates
proved too much at last for the credulity of juries ; and the acquit-
tal of four of his victims was a sign that the panic was beginning
to ebb. A far stronger proof of this was seen in the immense
efforts which Shaftesbury made to maintain it. Fresh informers
were brought forward to swear to a plot for the assassination of the
Earl himself, and to the share of the Duke of York in the con-
spiracies of his fellow-religionists. A paper found in a meal-tub
was produced as evidence of the new danger. Gigantic torch-light
processions paraded the streets of London, and the effigy of the
Pope was burnt amidst the wild outcry of a vast multitude.
Peti- Acts of yet greater daring showed the lengths to which
and"Ab- Shaftesbury was ready to go. He had grown up amidst the
horrers tumults of civil war, and, greyheaded as he was, the fire and
vehemence of his early days seemed to wake again in the
singular recklessness with which he drove on the nation to a
struggle in arms. Early in 1680 he formed a committee for
promoting agitation throughout the country ; and the petitions
which it drew up for the assembly of the Parliament were sent
to every town and grand jury, and sent back again with thousands
of signatures. INIonmouth, in spite of the King's orders, returned
at Shaftesbury's call to London ; and a daring pamphlet pointed
him out as the nation's leader in the coming struggle " against
Popery and tyranny." So great was the alarm of the Council
that the garrison in every fortress was held in readiness for instant
war. But the danger was really less than it seemed. The tide
of opinion had fairh' turned. Acquittal followed acquittal. A
The reaction of horror and remorse at the cruelty which had hurried
victim after victim to the gallows succeeded to the pitiless frenzy
which Shaftesbury had fanned into a flame. Anxious as the
nation was for a Protestant sovereign, its sense of justice
revolted against the wrong threatened to James's Protestant
children ; and every gentleman in the realm felt insulted at
the project of setting Mary aside to put the crown of England
on the head of a bastard. The memory too of the Civil War
re-action
IX
THE REVOLUTION
1423
was still fresh and keen, and the rumour of an outbreak of
revolt rallied men more and more round the King. The host
of petitions which Shaftesbury procured from the counties was
answered by a counter host of addresses from thousands who
declared their "abhorrence " of the plans against the Crown. The
country was divided into two great factions of " petitioners " and
" abhorrers," the germs of the two great parties of " Whigs" and
"Tories" which have pla}-ed so prominent a part in our political
history from the time of the Exclusion Bill. Charles at once
took advantage of this turn of affairs. He recalled the Duke
of York to the Court. He received the resignations of Russell
Sec. V
Shaftes-
bury
X679
10
1682
MEDAL OF THE DUCHESS OF PORTSMOUTH, 1673.
and Cavendish, as well as of the Earl of Essex, who had at
last gone over to Shaftesbury's projects "with all his heart."
Shaftesbury met defiance with defiance. Followed by a crowd
of his adherents he attended before the Grand Jury of Middlesex,
to indict the Duke of York as a Catholic recusant, and the King's
mistress, the Duchess of Portsmouth, as a national nuisance, while
Monmouth made a progress through the country, and gained favour
everywhere by his winning demeanour. Above all, Shaftesbury
relied on the temper of the Commons, elected as they had been
in the very heat of the panic and irritatctl by the long delay in
calling them together. The first act of tlic I louse on meeting in
1424 HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE chap.
Sec. V October was to vote that their care should be " to suppress Popery
Shaftes- and prevent a Popish successor." Rumours of a Catholic plot
1679 in Ireland were hardly needed to push the Exclusion l^ill ihrouCTh
TO , '^
1682 the ( onimons without a division. So resolute was the temper of
GEORGE S.WIll . ■.{^•'.''i NT II.ALIFAX.
From an cngyaving hy Houbrakcn 0/ a pUtiirc in the possession of Sir George Savile.
the Lower House that even Temple and Essex now gave their
adhesion to it as a necessity, and Sunderland himself wavered
towards accepting it. Halifax, whose abilit}' and eloquence
had now brought him fairly to the front, opposed it resolutely
IX
THE REVOLUTION
14^5
and successfully in the Lords ; but Halifax was only the
mouthpiece of William. " My Lord Halifax is entirely in the
interest of the Prince of Orange," the French ambassador, Barillon,
wrote to his master, " and what he seems to be doing for the Duke
of York is really in order to make an opening for a compromise
by which the Prince of Orange may benefit." The Exclusion Bill
once rejected, Halifax followed up the blow by bringing forward
a plan of Protestant securities, which would have taken from James
on his accession the right of veto on any bill passed by the two
Houses, the right of negotiating with foreign states, or of appoint-
ing either civil or military officers save with the consent of
Parliament. This plan also was no doubt prompted by the
Prince of Orange ; and the States of Holland supported it by
pressing Charles to come to an accommodation with his subjects
which would enable them to check the perpetual aggressions
which France was making on her neighbours
But if the Lords would have no Exclusion Bill the Commons
with as good reason would have no Securities Bill. They felt — as
one of the members for London fairly put it — that such securities
would break down at the very moment they were needed. A
Catholic king, should he ever come to the throne, would have
other forces besides those in England to back. him. " The Duke
rules over Scotland; the Irish and the English Papists will follow
him ; he will be obeyed by the officials of high and low rank whom
the King has appointed ; he will be just such a king as he thinks
good." Shaftesbury however was far from resting in a merel}-
negative position. He made a despairing effort to do the work of
exclusion by a Bill of Divorce, which would have enabled Charles
to put away his Queen on the ground of barrenness, and by a
fresh marriage to give a Protestant heir to the throne. The Earl
was perhaps already sensible of a change in public feeling, and this
he resolved to check and turn by a great public impeachment
which would revive and establish the general belief in the Plot.
Lord Stafford, who from his age and rank was looked on as the
leader of the Catholic party, had lain a prisoner in the Tower since
the first outburst of popular frenzy. He was now solemn!)-
impeached; and his trial in December 1680 mustered the whole
force of informers to prove the truth of a Catholic conspirac)-
Sec. V
Shaftes-
BLRY
1679
I6S2
William
and the
Exclusion
1680
The
Oxford
Parlia-
ment
Trial of
Lord
Stafford
i4-f>
HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE
CHAP.
Sec. V
Shaftes-
bury
1679
TO
1682
against the King and the realm. The evidence was worthless ;
but the trial revived, as Shaftesbury had hoped, much of the
old panic, and tiic condemnation of the prisoner by a majority
of his peers was followed by his death on the scaffold. The blow
produced its effect on all but Charles. Sunderland again pressed
the King to give wa\-. l^ut deserted as he was b)- his ministers,
and e\cn b\' his mistress, for the Duchess of Portsmouth had been
cowed into supporting the exclusion b}- the threats of Shaftesbury,
Charles was determined to resist. On the coupling of a grant
PARADE OF MILITIA AT ABERGWILI.
T. Dineley. '^Progress of the Duke of Beaufort through Wales" 1684.
of supplies with demands for a voice in the appointment of
officers of the royal garrisons he prorogued the Parliament. The
truth was that he was again planning an alliance with France.
With characteristic subtlety, however, he dissolved the existing
16S1 Parliament, and called a new one to meet in March. The act
was a mere blind. The King's aim was to frighten the country
into reaction b}' the dread of civil strife ; and his summons of the
Parliament to O.xford was an appeal to the country against the
disloyalty of the capital, and an adroit means of reviving the
IX THE REVOLUTION 1427
memories of the Civil War. With the same end he ordered his Sec. v
guards to accompany him, on the pretext of anticipated disorder ; ^"^J^y""
and Shaftesbury, himself terrified at the projects of the Court, 1679
aided the King's designs by appearing with his followers in arms 1682
on the plea of self-protection. Monmouth renewed his progresses
through the country. Riots broke out in London. Revolt seemed
at hand, and Charles hastened to conclude his secret negotiations Charles
turns to
with France. He verbally pledged himself to a policy of peace, in France
other words to withdrawal from any share in the Grand Alliance
which William was building up, while Lewis promised a small
subsidy which with the natural growth of the royal revenue
sufficed to render Charles, if he remained at peace, independent of
Parliamentary aids. The violence of the new Parliament played
yet more effectuall}- into the King's hands. The members of the
■ House of Commons were the same as those who had been returned
to the Parliaments he had just dissolved, and their temper was
naturally embittered by the two dissolutions. Their rejection of a
new Limitation Bill brought forward by Halifax, which while
granting James the title of King would have vested the actual
functions of government in the Prince and Princess of Orange,
alienated the more moderate and sensible of the Country party.
The attempt of the Lower House to revive the panic by im-
peaching an informer named Fitzharris before the House of Lords,
in defiance of the constitutional rule which entitled him as a
commoner to a trial by his peers in the course of common law, did
still more to throw public opinion on the side of the Crown.
Shaftesbury's course, in fact, went wholly on a belief that the
penury of the Treasury left Charles at his mercy, and that a refusal
of supplies must wring from the King his assent to the Exclusion.
But the gold of France had freed the King from his thraldom. He
had used the Parliament simply to exhibit himself as a sovereign
whose patience and conciliatory temper was rewarded with insult
and violence; and now that his end was accomplished, he no sooner
saw the F.Yclusion Bill rc-introduccd, than he sudclcnl)' dissolved
the Hou.ses after a month's sitting, and appealed in a ro}-al declara-
tion to the justice of the nation at large.
The appeal was met b)' an almost universal burst oflo)'alty. Shaftes-
The Church rallied to the King ; his declaration was read from Death
Vol. IV— I'AkT 31 4 Z
1428
HISTORY OF rill'. ENGLISH PEOPLE
CHAP.
Sec. V
Shaftes-
nURY
1679
TO
1682
every [)uli)il ; aiul the Universities solemnly decided that " no
religion, no law, no fault, no forfeiture," could avail to bar the
sacred right of hcrcilitar\' succcs.sion. The arrest of Shaftesbury
on a charge of suborning false witnesses to the Plot marked the
new strength of the Crown. London indeed was still true to him ;
the Middlesex (irand Jur\' ignored the bill of his indictment ; and
his discharge from the Tower was welcomed in every street with
bonfires and ringing of bells. But a fresh impulse was given to the
loN'al enthusiasm of the countrj- at large by the publication of a
plan said to ha\e been found among his papers, the plan of a secret
association for the furtherance of the Exclusion, whose members
bound themselves to obey the orders of Parliament even after its
MnD.A.L STRUCK TO COMME.MORATE SHAFTESBURY'S ACQUITTAL, 1681.
prorogation or dissolution by the Crown. So general was the
reaction that Halifax advised the calling of a new Parliament in
the belief that it would be a lo}-al one. William of Orange too
visited England to take advantage of the turn of affairs to pin
Charles to the policy of the Alliance ; but the King met both
counsels with evasion. He pushed boldly on in his new course.
He confirmed the loyalt}' of the Church by a renewed persecution
of the Nonconformists, which drove Penn from England and thus
brought about the settlement of Pennsylvania as a refuge for his
fellow Quakers. He was soon strong enough to call back James
to Court. IMonmouth, who had resumed his progresses through the
country as a means of checking the tide of reaction, was arrested,
IX
THE REVOLUTION
1429
The friendship of a Tory mayor secured the nomination of Tory sec. v
sheriffs in London, and the juries they packed left the Hfc of every shaftes
1679
TO
1682
The JLorcL Mayor sc Cornet Of Aide^'merv
I'rontiipiece to De Laiinc, "Present State 0/ London," 16S1.
I''\-clusionist at the mcrc)- of the Crown. Shaflcsbur}-, ali\-c to
the new clanger, pluny,ed niadl)- into consi)iracie.s w ilh a handful of
4 /' -
143°
HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE
CHAP.
Sec. V adv^enturcrs as desperate as himself, hid himself in the City, where
Shaftes- he boasted that ten thousand " brisk bovs " were ready to appear at
BURY ■'
1679 his call, and urycd his friends to rise in arms. Hut their delays
1682 drove him to flight; and two months after his arrival in Holland,
Jan. 16S;, the soul of the great leader, great from his immense energy and the
wonderful versatility of his genius, but whose genius and energy
had endetl in wrecking for the time the fortunes of English freedom,
and in associating the noblest of cau.ses with the vilest of crimes,
found its first quiet in death.
FROST FAIR 0.\ THAMES, 1683.
Broadside in British Museum.
IX
THE REVOLUTION
1431
LEAD AND COAL MINES AT MOSTYN, It
T. DineUy. "Progress of the Duke of Beaufort through Wales," \i
Sec. VI
The
Second
Stuart
Tyranny
1682
TO
1688
Section VI.— The Second Stuart Tyranny, 1682— 1688
^Authorities. — To those given before we may add Wehvood's " Memoirs,"
Luttrell's " Diary," and above all Lord Macaulay's " History of England."]
The flight of Shaftesbury proclaimed the triumph of the King.
Mis marvellous sagacity had told him when the struggle was over
and further resistance useless. But the country leaders, who had
delayed to answer the Karl's call, still believed opposition possible ;
and Monmouth, with Lord Essex, Lord Howard of Ettrick, Lord
Russell, Hampden, and Algernon Sidney held meetings with the
view of founding an association whose agitation should force on
the King the a.s.sembly of a Parliament. The more desperate spirits
who had clustered round him as he la)- hidden in the City took
refuge in plots of assassination, and in a plan for murdering Charles
The
Royal
Triumph
143^
Sec. V 1
The
Seconu
Stuart
Tyranny
1682
TO
1688
K yc-housc
' Plot
HISTORY OF THK ENGLISH rp:OPLE
CHAP.
anil his brother as thc\' passed the Rye-house on their road from
London to Newmarket, l^oth projects were betrayed, and though
they were wholl}- distinct from one another the cruel ingenuity of
WILLIAM, LURI) KUSSKI.L.
From an engraving by Pieter van der Danck, after Sir Godfrey Knellcr
the Crown lawyers blended them into one. Lord Es.sex saved
himself from a traitor's death by suicide in the Tower. Lord
Russell, convicted on a charge of sharing in the Rye-house plot,
was beheaded in Lincoln's Lin Fields. The same fate awaited
IX THE REVOLUTION 1433
Algernon Sidney. Monmouth fled in terror over sea, and his sec. vi
flight was followed by a series of prosecutions for sedition directed §£ "nd
against his followers. In 1683 the Constitutional opposition which ly^^^^ffy
had held Charles so long; in check lay crushed at his feet. A 1682
weaker man might easily have been led into a wild tyranny by the 1688
mad outburst of loyalty which greeted his triumph. On the very
day when the crowd around Russell's scaffold were dipping their
handkerchiefs in his blood, as in the blood of a martyr, the Univer-
sity of Oxford solemnly declared that the doctrine of passive
obedience, even to the worst of rulers, was a part of religion. But
Charles saw that immense obstacles still lay in the road of a mere
tyranny. The great Tory party which had rallied to his succour
against the Exclusionists were still steady for parliamentary and
legal government. The Church was as powerful as ever, and the
mention of a renewal of the Indulgence to Nonconformists had to
be withdrawn before the opposition of the bishops. He was careful
therefore during the few years which remained to him to avoid the
appearance of any open violation of public law. He suspended no
statute. He imposed no tax by royal authority. Nothing indeed
shows more completely how great a work the Long Parliament had
done than a survey of the reign of Charles the Second. " The
King," Hallam says very truly, " was restored to nothing but what
the law had preserved to him." No attempt was made to restore
the abuses which the patriots of 1641 had swept away. Parliament
was continually summoned. In spite of its frequent refusal of
supplies, no attempt was ever made to raise money by unconstitu-
tional means. The few illegal proclamations issued under Clarendon
ceased with his fall. No effort was made to revive the Star
Chamber and the Court of High Commission; and if judges were
servile and juries sometimes packed, there was no open interfer-
ence with the course of justice. In two remarkable points freedom
had made an advance even on 1641. P>om the moment when Freedom
printing began to tell on public opinion, it had been gagged by a PrJss
.system of licences. The regulations framed under Henry the
Eighth subjected the press to the control of the Star Chamber,
and the Martin Marprclatc libels brought about a yet more
stringent control under I'Ji/.abeth. Iwen the Long Parliament
laid a heavy liand on the press, and the great renujnstrance of
1434
HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE
CHAP.
Sec. VI Milton ill his " Arcopagitica" fell dead on the ears of his Puritan
.T^ associates But the statute for the regulation of printing which
Second
=1
Stl'akt
TVRANNV
1682
TO
1688
1'
- '?,
111
^^'
-^'■^V^-^'* J^^- // i
^ ■'•ill
MONUMENT OF JOHN MARTIN, PRINTER, 1680.
/« Crypt of S. Paul's Cathedral.
was passed immediately after the Restoration expired finally in
1679, and the temper of the Parliament at once put an end to any
attempt at re-establishing the censorship. To the new freedom of
IX
THE REVOLUTION
1435
the press the Habeas Corpus Act added a new security for the
personal freedom of every EngHshman. Against arbitrary im-
prisonment provision had been made in the earliest ages by a
famous clause in the Great Charter. No free man could be held in
prison save on charge or conviction of crime or for debt, and every
prisoner on a criminal charge could demand as a right from the
Court of King's Bench the issue of a writ of " habeas corpus," which
bound his gaoler to produce both the prisoner and the warrant on
which he was imprisoned, that the court might judge whether
he was imprisoned according to law. In cases however of im-
prisonment on a warrant of the ro)'al Council it had been
sometimes held b)- judges that the writ could not be issued, and
under Clarendon's administration instances had in this way
occurred of imprisonment without legal remedy. But his fall was
quickly followed by the introduction of a bill to secure this right of
the subject, and after a long struggle the Act which is known as
the Habeas Corpus Act passed finally in 1679. By this great
statute the old practice of the law was freed from all difficulties and
exceptions. Every prisoner committed for any crime save treason
or felony was declared entitled to his writ even in the vacations
of the courts, and heavy penalties were enforced on judges or
gaolers who refused him this right. Every person committed for
felon\- or treason was entitled to be released on bail, unless indicted
at the next session of gaol delivery after his commitment, and to be
discharged if not indicted at the sessions which followed. It was
forbidden under the heaviest penalties to send a prisoner into any
places or fortresses beyond the seas.
Galling to the Crown as the freedom of the press and the
Habeas Corpus Act were soon found to be, Charles made no
attempt to curtail the one or to infringe the other. But while
cautious to avoid rousing popular resistance, he moved cooll}- and
resolutely forwartl on the path of despotism. It was in vain that
Halifax pressed for energetic resistance to the aggressions of
rVance, fr^r the recall of Monmouth, or for the calling of a fresh
I'arliamcnt. Like ever}' other luiglish statesman he found he liad
been duped, and that now his work was done he was suffered to
remain in office but left without any influence in the go\-crnmcnt.
Ih'de, who was created ICarl of Rocliestcr, still rtinainctl at tlu: head
Sec. Vi
The
Second
Stuart
Tyranny
1682
1688
Habeas
Corpus
Act
Death of
Charles
"the abolition of monarchy."
Nalson, ''Collection of Affairs of State," 16S3.
CHAP. IX
THE REVOLUTION
1437
of the Treasur}' ; but Charles soon gave more of his confidence
to the supple and acute Sunderland. Parliament, in defiance
of the Triennial Act, which after having been repealed had been
re-enacted but without the safeguards of the original act, remained
unassembled during the remainder of the King's reign. His
secret alliance with
France furnished
Charles with the
funds he immediate-
ly required, and the
rapid growth of the
customs through the
increase of English
commerce promised
to give him a revenue
which, if peace were
preserved, would save
him from the need
of a fresh appeal to
the Commons. All
opposition was at an
end. The strength
of the Country party
had been broken by
its own dissensions
over the Exclusion
Bill, and by the flight
or death of its more
prominent leaders.
Whatever strength it
retained lay chicfl)' in
the towns, and these were now attacked by writs of "quo warranto,"
which called on them to show cause why their charters should not
be declared forfeited on the ground of abuse of their privileges. .V
few verdicts on the side of the Crown brought about a general
surrender of municipal liberties ; and the grant of fresh charters, in
which all but uhra-loyalists were carefully excluded from their
corporations, placed the representation (;f the horouglis in the hands
INSIGNIA OF THE CORPORATION OF COVKNTRY.
Seventeenth Century.
Art Journal.
Sec. VI
The
Second
Stuart
Tyranny
1682
TO
1688
Town
Charters
143S
HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE chap, ix
Sec. VI of thc Crown. Against active discontent Charles had long been
sJcoND quietly providing by thc gradual increase of his Guards. Thc
ivra'^nIa- withdrawal of its garrison from Tangier enabled him to raise their
force to nine thousand \\cll-c(|uippcd soldiers, and to supplement
1682
TO
1 688
MACE, MACE, NEWTOW.N
SOUTHANU'TON. (iSLE OF WIGHT).
Temp. Hc-nry VII. Temp. Henry VII.
Proceedings of Smlety of Antiquaries.
^i45
MACES, STAMFORD
Temp. Charles II.
Art Journal.
this force, thc nucleus of our present standing army, by a reserve
of six regiments, which were maintained till they should be needed
at home at the service of the United Provinces. But ereat as the
danger reall}' was, it lay not so much in isolated acts of tyranny as
in thc character and purpose of Charles himself His death at the
KOYAL MANDAIE I O KKASK TIIK NAMF. OF I.OCKF, FROM TIIK STUUIi.NTS OF
CHRIST CHURCH, OXFORD, 1684.
- ^
CHAP. IX
THE REVOLUTION 1441
very moment of his triumph saved EngHsh freedom. He had sec. vi
regained his old popularity, and at the news of his sickness crowds g^^^^^
thronged the churches, praying that God would raise him up again tyr^nnv
to be a father to his people. But the one anxiety of the King was 1682
to die reconciled to the Catholic Church. His chamber was 1688
cleared and a priest named Huddleston, who had saved his life 1685
after the battle of Worcester, received his confession and adminis-
tered the last sacraments. Not a word of this ceremony was
whispered when the nobles and bishops were recalled into the
royal presence. All the children of his mistresses save Monmouth
were gathered round the bed. Charles " blessed all his children
one by one, pulling them on to his bed ; and then the bishops
moved him, as he was the Lord's anointed and the father of his
country, to bless them also and all that were there present, and in
them the general body of his subjects. Whereupon, the room
being full, all fell down upon their knees, and he raised himself in
his bed and very solemnly blessed them all." The strange comedy
was at last over. Charles died as he had lived : brave, witty,
cynical, even in the presence of death. Tortured as he was with
pain, he begged the bystanders to forgive him for being so un-
conscionable a time in dying. One mistress, the Duchess of
Portsmouth, hung weeping over his bed. His last thought was
of another mistress, Nell Gwynn. " Do not," he whispered to his
successor ere he sank into a fatal stupor, " do not let poor Nelly
starve ! "
The first words of James on his accession in February 1685, his James
the
promise " to preserve the Government both in Church and State as second
it is now by law established," were welcomed by the whole country
with enthusiasm. All the suspicions of a Catholic sovereign
seemed to have disappeared. " Wc have the word of a King ! "
ran the general cry, " and of a King who was never worse than his
word." The conviction of his brother's faithlessness stood James
in good stead. He was looked upon as narrow, impetuous,
stubborn, and despotic in heart, but even his enemies did not
accuse him of being false. Above all he was believed to be keenly
alive to the honour of his countr)', and resolute to free it from
foreign dependence. It was necessary to summon a Parliament,
for the r()\'al revenue ceased with the death of Charles ; l)ut the
CHAP. IX
THE REVOLUTION
M4-
elections, swayed at once by the tide of loyalty and by the com- Sec. vi
mand of the boroughs which the surrender of their charters had the
° Second
Stuart
'I'yrannv
1682
JA.MKS II.
Illumination on Patent in Public Record Office.
given to the Crown, sent ii]) a House of ("oinmons in wliich James
found few memljcrs wIkj were not to his mind. 'Jhc ([ucstion of
religious sccurit}' was waived at a hint of the royal displeasiu'c.
Vol.. IV— I'Aur 31 5 .\
1444
HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE
CHAP.
Sec. VI
The
Second
Stuart
Tyranny
1682
TO
1688
A rgyll's
rising
Mofi-
mouth's
rising
A revenue of nearly two millions was i^rantcd to the Kini;" for life.
All that was wantctl to rou.sc the loyalty of the country into fanati-
cism was supplied b)- a rebellion in the North, and by another
under Monmouth in the West. The hopes of Scotch freedom had
clung ever since the Restoration to the house of Arg)ll. The
great Marquis, indeed, had been brought to the block at the
King's return. His son, the Earl of Argyll, had been unable to
save himself even by a life of singular caution and obedience from
the ill-will of the vile politicians who governed Scotland. He was
at last convicted of treason in 1682 on grounds at which every
English statesman stood aghast. " \Vc should not hang a dog
here," Halifax protested, " on the grounds on which my lord
Argyll has been sentenced to death." The Earl escaped however
to Holland, and lived peacefully there diu'ing the last years of the
reign of Charles. Monmouth had found the same refuge at the
Hague, where a belief in the King's purpose to recall him secured
him a kindly reception from William of Orange. But the accession
of James was a death-blow to the hopes of the Duke, while it
stirred the fanaticism of Argyll to a resolve of wresting Scotland
from the rule of a Catholic king. The two leaders determined to
appear in arms in England and the North, and the two expeditions
sailed within a few days of each other. Argyll's attempt was soon
over. His clan of the Campbells rose on his landing in Cantyre,
but the country had been occupied for the King, and quarrels
among the exiles who accompanied him robbed his effort of every
chance of success. His force scattered without a fight ; and Argyll,
arrested in an attempt to escape, was hurried to a traitor's death.
Monmouth for a time found brighter fortune. His popularity in
the West was great, and though the gentry held aloof when he
landed at Lyme, and demanded effective parliamentar\' government
and freedom of worship for Protestant Nonconformists, the farmers
and traders of Devonshire and Dorset flocked to his standard.
The clothier-towns of Somerset were true to the Whig cause, and
on the entrance of the Duke into Taunton the popular enthu-
siasm showed itself in flowers which wreathed every door, as well
as in a train of young girls who presented INIonmouth with a Bible
and a flag. His forces now amounted to six thousand men, but
whatever chance of success he might have had was lost bv his
IX
THE REVOLUTION
1445
assumption of the title of king. The Houses supported James,
and passed a bill of attainder against the Duke. The gentry, still
true to the cause of Mary and of William, held stubbornly aloof ;
while the Guards hurried to the scene of the revolt, and the militia
gathered to the royal standard. Foiled in an attempt on Bristol
and Bath, Monmouth fell back on Bridgevvater, and flung himself
liRIDGEWATER HIGH CROSS.
Proceedings of Somerset A rclueological Society.
in the night of the sixth (;f July, 1685, on the King's forces, which
lay encamped on Sedgemoor. The surprise failed ; and the brave
peasants and miners who followed the Duke, checked in their
advance by a deep drain which crossed the moor, were broken after
a shfjrt resistance by the royal horse. Their leader fled from the
field, and after a vain effort to escape from the realm, was captured
and .sent pitilessly to the bUjck.
Never had l^ngland shown a firmer Io\'alty ; but its io^ahy
was changed into lioiror b\' the terrible measures of repression
5 A 2
Sec. VI
The
Second
.Stuakt
'I'VKANNY
1682
TO
1688
The
Bloody
Circuit
'44^
HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE
CHAP.
Sec. VI whicli followcd Oil thc victory of Scdgcmoor. Even North, the
The Loitl Keeper, a servile tool of the Crown, protested against the
Stuart
Tyranny
1682
TO
I68S
SCYTHES TICKED UP AT SEDGEMOOR ; USED AS WEAPONS liV THE PEASA.NTS.
Tower of London.
hcence and bloodshed in which the troops were suffered to indulge
after the battle. His protest liowevcr was clisregarded, and he
withdrew broken-hearted from the Court to die. James was, in
fact, resolved on a far more terrible vengeance ; and the Chief-
BATTLE OF SEDGEMOOR.
^^ En^clants Schomvtoncel" &^c., Aiiisterdaiii, 1690.
Justice Jeffreys, a man of great natural powers but of violent
temper, was sent to earn the Seals by a series of judicial murders
which have left his name a byword for cruelt}-. Three hundred
and fift\- rebels were hanged in the " Bloody Circuit," as Jeffreys
made his way through Dorset and Somerset. More than eight
IX
THE REVOLUTION
1447
hundred were sold into slavery beyond sea. A yet larger number sec. vi
were whipped and imprisoned. The Queen, the maids of honour,
the courtiers, even the Judge himself, made shameless profit from
the sale of pardons. What roused pity above all were the cruelties
wreaked upon women. Some were scourged from market-town to
market-town. Mrs. Lisle, the wife of one of the Regicides, was
The
Second
Stuart
Tyranny
1682
TO
1688
l.OKD JKKFRKY.S AS CHIKK JUSTICE.
From an enj^raving by R. iriu'le, after S/r Godfrey Knellc
sent to the block at Winchester for harbouring a rebel. Elizabeth
Gaunt, for the same act of womanly charit)', was burned at T)'burn.
Pity turned into horror when it was found that cruelty such as this
was avowed and sanctioned b}- the King. Even the cold heart of
General Churchill, to whose energy the victory of Sedgenioor had
mainly been owing, rcv(jlted at the ruthlcssness with which James
turned away from all ai)peals for mcic)-. " This marble," he cried
as he struck the chininc)'-piccc on which he leant, " is not harder
CHAP. IX
THE REVOLUTION
1449
than the King's heart." But it was soon plain that the terror
which the butchery was meant to strike into the people was part of
a larger purpose. The revolt was made a pretext for a vast
increase of the standing arm}'. Charles, as we have seen, had
silently and cautiously raised it to nearly ten thousand men ;
James raised it at one swoop to twenty thousand. The employ-
ment of this force was to be at home, not abroad, for the hope of an
English policy in foreign affairs had already faded away. In the
designs which James had at heart he could look for no consent
from Parliament ; and however his pride revolted against a depend-
ence on France, it was onh' b)' French gold and French soldiers
that he could hope to hold the Parliament permanently at ba}-.
A week therefore after his accession he assured Lewis that his
gratitude and devotion to him equalled that of Charles himself.
" Tell your master," he said to the French ambassador, "that with-
out his protection I can do nothing. He has a right to be con-
sulted, and it is my wish to consult him, about everything." The
pledge of subserviency was rewarded with the promise of a
subsidy, and the promise was received with the strongest expres-
sions of delight and servility.
Never had the secret league with France seemed so full of
danger to English religion. Europe had long been trembling at
the ambition of Lewis ; it was trembling now at his bigotry. He
had proclaimed warfare against civil libert}- in his attack upon
Sec. VI
The
Second
Stuart
TVR.\NNY
1682
The
Tyranny
■ )!• I.ULIS XIV. COMMF.MORATINO REVOCATKj.N
OF NANTES, 1685.
Holland ; he declared war at this moment upon religi(jus freedom
b\- revoking/ the Indict of Nantes, the measure ])v which Ilcnr\-
145°
HISTORY OF 'I'HK KXCLISll PEOPLE
CHAP.
Sec. VI
The
Second
Stuakt
'rVRAN.NY
1682
TO
1688
the Fourth after his abandonincnt of Protestantism secured tolera-
tion and the free exercise of their worship for his Protestant sub-
jects. It had been respected b>- RichcHeu even in his victory over
HOUSE OK HUGUENOT SILK-WKAVER, CAXTEKliURV.
the Huguenots, and only h'c^htly tampered with by Mazarin. But
from the beginning of his reign Lewis had resolved to set aside its
provisions, and his revocation of it in 1685 was only the natural
IX
THE REVOLUTION
close of a progressive system of persecution. The Revocation was
followed by outrages more cruel than even the bloodshed of Alva.
Dragoons were quartered on Protestant families, women were flung
from their sick-beds into the streets, children were torn from their
mothers' arms to be brought up in Catholicism, ministers were sent
1451
Sec. VI
The
Second
Stuart
1 VRANNY
1682
1688
./ixntcr in rl/irunsdltck iPrlnts cAl
bkttYccc? <^ncrmr ojilkrj cJtufpGy:<
cGauico
jorh erf
sen
STAMPING CALICO.
Temp. James II.
liagford Collection, British Museum.
to the galleys. In spite of the royal edicts, which forbade even
flight to the victims of these horrible atrocities, a hundred thousand
Protestants fled over the borders, and Holland, Switzerland, the
i'alatinate, were filled willi I'Vcncli exiles. Thousands found refuge
in i'jigland, and ihcir iiulustrs- founded in the fu-lds east of
LoiKJon the silk- trade of .Spilalfields. lUit while I'lnglisliincn were
rori: innocent xi. rixeiving the ambassador of james ii., 16S7.
Wright, '-Account of the Earl of Castlcmainc's Embassy." 1688.
CHAP. IX THE REVOLUTION 1453
looking- with horror on these events in France, James drew from Sec. vi
them new hopes. In defiance of the law he was fillinsf his fresh The
^ Second
regiments with Catholic officers, fie dismissed Halifax from the Stuart
•^ lYKANNV
Priv}- Council on his refusal to consent to a plan for repealing the 1682
TO
Test Act. He met the Parliament with a haughty declaration that 168S
whether legal or no his grant of commissions to Catholics must not 1686
be questioned, and with a demand of supplies for his new troops.
Lo\-al as was the temper of the Houses, their alarm for the Church,
their dread of a standing arm}% was }'et stronger than their loyalt)-.
The Commons by the majority of a single vote deferred the grant
of supplies till grievances were redressed, and demanded in their
address the recall of the illegal commissions. The Lords took a
bolder tone ; and the protest of the bishops against any infringe-
ment of the Test Act was backed by the eloquence of Halifax. But
both Houses were at once prorogued. The King resolved to obtain
from the judges what he could not obtain from Parliament. He
remodelled the bench b}' dismissing four judges who refused to lend
themselves to his plans ; and their successors decided in the case of ^^"'
^ . Test Act
Sir Edward Hales, a Catholic officer in the arm}-, that a roj^al dis- set aside
pensation could be pleaded in bar of the Test Act. The principle
laid down by the judges asserted the right of the King to dispense
with penal laws according to his own judgment, and it was
applied by James with a reckless impatience of all deccnc\- and
self-restraint. Catholics were admitted into civil and militar)-
offices without stint, and four Catholic peers were sworn as mem-
bers of the Privy Council. The laws which forbade the presence
of Catholic priests in the realm, or the open exercise of Catholic
worship, were set at nought. A gorgeous chapel was opened in
the palace of St. James for the worship of the King. Carmelites,
Benedictines, P'ranciscans, appeared in their religious garb in the
streets of Londrjii, and the Jesuits set up a crowded school in the
Savoy.
The quick growth of discontent at these acts would have James
startled a wiser man into prudence, but James prided himself on an church
obstinac}' which never ga\'e way ; and a riot which took ])lace on
the opening of a fresh Catholic chapel in the Cit)' was foUowed 1))-
thc establishment of a camp of thirteen thousand men at Ilounslow
to overawe the capital. The course which James intended to
jRADVALE
ROMANVM
IVX^TA MIS SALE
EX DECRETO j§ACRO SANCTI
Concilij Tridentini.
!J. V. PONT, iMAX. jysSU'EOITUM,
CLEMEiN
ill. PRIMVM,
NUNC DENOO,
VRBANI PAPiE OCT A VI
AiVCTORITATE RECOGNITVM.
Cujus San^itas,ne vetus Graduale recuda-
tur, gravi interminatione fanxit.
CuJ adtUtus eft Cantus Miflamm omnium votivartjm, qui antchac dcCderabatur:itcm
Cantus &i Modulationcs Kyrialcs , Hymni Angclici , Symboli Apoftolorum ,
ac oiuaiumprxterca qux inflagulis MiiSs pafllm dec^nc&ri foIcnt>
;:.': ! unrtnndcm, Sanctorum Mnnium Officia, quorum no-
ii.a in Kjk w.iano Ro.nano Jcicnpca i egcriuntur.
LUThTl/€ PARISIOUUM
CLAUDlUM"-rOSSE , vi^ Jacobca fub ils^^o
Columbarum.
M. D C. L X V 1 I L '~~
ruM APPROBATION^-
TITLE-PAGE OF MISSAL GIVEN BY JAMES H. TO JOHN BRENAN, ROMAN CATHOLIC
ARCHBISHOP OF CASHEL.
Library of S. Patrick's Cathedral, Duhlin.
CHAP. IX
THE REVOLUTION
1455
VifsCiyncL aririiFH/ 1/ Pa.
t. ' isls in I re I a nd .
SATIRICAL IM.AV INC. -CARD.
Temp. James II.
British Museum.
A Catholic, Lord T}'rconncll, was put at
the head of the arm}-, and .set instantl)' about its re-ors^fanizatioii
b)' cashiering Protestant officers and by admitting two thousand
CathoHc natives into its ranks. Meanwhile James had begun in
England a bold and systematic attack upon the Church. He re-
garded his ecclesiastical supremacy as a wea])on providcntiall\- left
to him for undoing the work which it had enabled his predecessors
The
Second
Stiart
Tyranny
1682
TO
1 688
follow in England was shown by the course he was following in the Sec. yi
sister kingdoms. In Scotland he acted as a pure despot. He
placed its government in the hands of two lords, Melfort and Perth,
who had embraced his own religion, and put a Catholic in
command of the Castle of Edinburgh. The Scotch Parliament had
as \-et been the mere creature of the Crown, but servile as were its
members there was a point at which their servility stopped.
When James boldl)'
required them to le-
galize the toleration
of Catholics, the}- re-
fused to pass such an
Act. It was in vain
that the King tempted
them to consent b}^
the offer of a free
trade with England.
" Shall wc sell our
God .-* " was the in-
dignant repl}'. James
at once ordered the
Scotch judges to treat
all laws against Catho-
lics as null and void,
and his orders were
obeyed. In Ireland
his polic}- threw off
even the disguise of
law. Catholics were
admitted by the King's
command to the Coun-
cil and to civil offices.
1456 HISTORY OF Till-: lA'Gl.ISH PEOPL?: chap.
Sec. VI to do. UiulcT 1 Icnr\- iuul I^li/.;il)clh it had been used to turn the
The Church of I'lii'dand (vom CathoHc to Protestant. Under James it
Second
Stuakt should be used to turn it back airain from Protestant to Catholic.
Tyranny *
16S2 The High Commission indeed had been declared illegal by an
1685 Act of the Long Parliament, and this Act had been confirmed by
The lliiili the Parliament of the Restoration, l^ut it was thought possible to
^"s'ion"' <-'vadc this Act by omitting from the instructions on which the
1686 Commission acted the extraordinary powers and jurisdictions by
which its predecessor had given offence. With this reserve, seven
commissioners were appointed for the government of the Church,
with JefTre}s at their head ; and the first blow of the Commission
was at the l^ishop of London. James had forbidden the clergy to
preach against " the King's religion," and ordered Bishop Compton
to suspend a London vicar who set this order at defiance. The
l^ishop's refusal was punished by his own suspension. But the
pressure of the Commission only drove the clergy to a bolder
defiance of the royal will. Sermons against superstition were
preached from every pulpit ; and the two most famous divines of
the day, Tillotson and Stillingfleet, put themselves at the head of a
host of controversialists who scattered pamphlets and tracts from
every printing press.
Declara- It was in vain that the bulk of the Catholic gentry stood aloof
Indul- '^'^^^ predicted the inevitable reaction his course must bring about,
gence qj- ^.j^^^- Rome itself counselled greater moderation. James was
infatuated with what seemed to be the success of his enterprises.
He looked on the opposition he experienced as due to the in-
fluence of the High Church Tories who had remained in power
since the reaction of i68i, and these he determined " to chastise."
The Duke of Oueensberry, the leader of this party in Scotland, was
driven from office. Tyrconnell, as we have seen, was placed as a
check on Ormond in Ireland. In England James resolved to
show the world that even the closest ties of blood were as nothing
to him if they conflicted with the demands of his faith. His earlier
marriage with Anne Hyde, the daughter of Clarendon, bound both
the Chancellor's sons to his fortunes ; and on his accession he had
sent his elder brother-in-law, llcnr\-, P^arl of Clarendon, as Lord-
Lieutenant to Ireland, and raised the younger, Laurence, Earl of
Rochester, to the post of Lord Treasurer. But Rochester was now
IX
THE REVOLUTION
1457
told that the King could not safely entrust so great a charge to
any one who did not share his sentiments on religion, and on his
refusal to abandon his faith he was deprived of the White Staff.
His brother, Clarendon, shared his fall. A Catholic, Lord Bellasys,
became First Lord of the Treasury, which was put into commission
after Rochester's removal ; and another Catholic, Lord Arundel,
became Lord Privy Seal, while Father Petre, a Jesuit, was called
to the Privy Council. One official after another who refused to aid
in the repeal of the Test Act was dismissed. In defiance of the
law the Nuncio of the Pope was received in state at Windsor.
But even James could hardly fail to perceive the growth of public
discontent. If the great Tory nobles were staunch for the Crown,
they were as resolute English-
men in their hatred of mere
tyranny as the Whigs them-
selves. James gave the Duke
of Norfolk the sword of State
to carry before him as he went
to Mass. The Duke stopped at
the Chapel door. " Your father
would have gone further," said
the King. " Your Majesty's
father was the better man," re-
plied the Duke, " and he would
not have gone so far." The
young Duke of Somerset was
ordered to introduce the Nuncio
into the Presence Chamber. " I
am advised," he answered, " that
I cannot obey your Majesty
without breaking the law." " Do
you not know that I am above
the law.-*" James asked angrily.
' Your Majesty may be, but I am not," retorted the Duke. He
was dismis.sed from his post ; but the spirit of resistance spread
fast. In spite of the King's letters the governors of the Charter
House, wlu) numbered among them some of the greatest I'Jiglish
nobles, refused to admit a Catholic to the benefits of the founda-
UAl.liKKl- FROM ROME.
Seventeenth C"entury.
Tower of London.
Sec. VI
The
.Second
Stuart
1 YRANNY
1682
TO
1688
1687
The Tory
nobles
X458 HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE chap.
Sec. VI tion. Thc mo.st devoted lo\alists bei;an to murmur when James
^K demanded apostasy as a proof of their loyalt)-. He had soon in
Stuari' fact to abandon all hope of bringing the Church or thc Tories over
TyRANN\ ^ 1 1 -VT
1682 to his will. He turned, as Charles had turned, to the Noncon-
168S formists, and published in 1687 a Declaration of Indulgence which
Th,. suspended the operation of the penal laws against Nonconformists
A-o„-a»i- ^^j^j Catholics alike, and of every Act which imposed a test as
Jo nil I sis ' ■'
a qualification for office in Church or State. The temptation to
accept the Indulgence was great, for since the fall of Shaftesbury
persecution had fallen heavily on the Protestant dissidents, and we
can hardl}' wonder that the Nonconformists wavered for a time, or
that numerous addresses of thanks were presented to James. But
the great bod}' of them, and all the more venerable names among
them, remained true to the cause of freedom. Baxter, Howe, and
Bunyan all refused an Indulgence which could only be purchased
by the violent overthrow of thc law. It was plain that the attempt
to divide the forces of Protestantism had utterly failed, and that
the onh' mode of securing his end was to procure a repeal of the
Test Act from Parliament itself
James The temper of the existing Houses however remained
Univer- absolutely opposed to thc King's project. He therefore dissolved
sities (.|.j^. Parliament, and summoned a new one. But no free Parlia-
ment could be brought, as he knew, to consent to the repeal.
The Lords indeed could be swamped by lavish creations of new
peers. " Your troop of horse," his minister. Lord Sunderland,
told Churchill, " shall be called up into the House of Lords." But
it was a harder matter to secure a compliant House of Commons,
The Lord-Lieutenants were directed to bring about such a
" regulation " of thc governing bod}' in boroughs as would ensure
thc return of candidates pledged to the repeal of the Test, and to
question every magistrate in their count}' as to his vote. Half
of them at once refused, and a long list of great nobles — the Earls
of Oxford, Shrewsbury, Dorset, Derb}', Pembroke, Rutland,
Abergavenny, Thanet, Northampton, and Abingdon — were
dismissed from their Lord-Lieutenancies. The justices when
questioned simpK" replied that they would vote according to their
consciences, and send members to Parliament who would protect
the Protestant religion. After repeated " regulations " it was
IX THE REVOLUTION 1459
bTUART
r YUAN NY
1688
found impossible to form a corporate body which would return Sec. vi
representatives willing to comply with the royal will. All thought ^'^'he
of a Parliament had to be abandoned ; and even the most bigoted
courtiers counselled mofleration at this proof of the stubborn '
opposition which James must prepare to encounter from the peers,
the gentry, and the trading classes. The clergy alone still
hesitated in any open act of resistance. Even the tyranny of the
Commission failed to rouse into open disaffection men who had
been preaching Sunday after Sunday the doctrine of passive
obedience to the worst of kings. But James cared little for
passive obedience. He looked on the refusal of the clergy to
support his plans as freeing him from his pledge to maintain the
Church as established by law ; and he resolved to attack it in the
great institutions which had till now been its strongholds. To
secure the Universities for Catholicism was to seize the only
training schools which the clergy possessed. Cambridge indeed
escaped easily. A Benedictine monk who presented himself with
royal letters recommending himi for the degree of a Master of Arts
was rejected on his refusal to sign the Articles : and the Vice-
Chancellor paid for the rejection by dismissal from his office. But a
violent and obstinate attack was directed against Oxford. The
Master of University College, who declared himself a convert, was
authorized to retain his post in defiance of the law. jMassey, a
Roman Catholic, was presented by the Crown to the Deanery of
Christ Church. Magdalen was the wealthiest Oxford College, and
James in 1687 recommended one Farmer, a Catholic of infamous
life and not even qualified by statute for the office, to its vacant
headship. The Fellows remonstrated, and on the rejection of
their remonstrance chose tlough, one of their own number, as
their President. The Ecclesiastical Commission declared the
election void ; and James, shamed out of his first candidate,
recommended a .second, Parker, Bishop of O.xford, a Catholic in
heart and the meanest of his courtiers. But the P'ellows held
stubbornly to their legal head. It was in vain that the King
visited Oxford, summoned them to his presence, and rated them as
they knelt before him like schoolboys. " I am King," he said, " I
will be obeyed ! Go to your chapel this instant, and elect the
Bishop ! Let tho.sc who refuse look to it, for thc\- shall feel the
Vol. IV— Part 32 5 I;
CHAP. IX
THE REVOLUTION 1461
whole weight of my hand ! " It was seen that to give Magdalen sec. vi
as well as Christ Church into Catholic hands was to turn Oxford o'^Jl^^
into a Catholic seminar}', and the King's threats were disregarded, -ly^^^^y
But thev were soon carried out. A special Commission visited the ^^^^
' '■ TO
University, pronounced Hough an intruder, set aside his appeal to 1688
the law, burst open the door of his President's house to install
Parker in his place, and on their refusal to submit deprived the
Fellows of their fellowships. The expulsion of the Fellows was
followed on a like refusal by that of the Demies. Parker, who died
immediately after his installation, was succeeded by a Roman
Catholic bishop vi partibus, Bonaventure Giffard, and twelve
Catholics were admitted to fellowships in a single day.
Meanwhile James clung to the hope of finding a compliant The
Seven
Parliament, from which he might win a repeal of the Test Act. Bishops
In face of the dogged opposition of the countr\' the elections had
been adjourned ; and a renewed Declaration of Indulgence was .l/;77i68S
intended as an appeal to the nation at large. At its close he
promised to summon a Parliament in November, and he called on
the electors to choose such members as would bring to a successful
end the policy he had begun. His resolve, he said, was to estab-
lish universal liberty of conscience for all future time. It was in
this character of a royal appeal that he ordered every clergyman to
read the declaration during divine service on two successive
Sunda}-s. Little time was given for deliberation, but little time
was needed. The clerg}- refused almost to a man to be the instru-
ments of their own humiliation. The Declaration was read in only
four of the London churches, and in these the congregation flocked
out of church at the first words of it. Nearly all of the country
clergy refused to obey the ro}-al orders. The Bishops went with
the rest of the clerg}-. A few da\-s before the appointed Sunda\-
Archbishop Sancroft called his suffragans together, and the six
who were able to appear at Lambeth signed a temperate protest
to the King, in which the)' declined to publish an illegal Declara-
tion. " It is a standard of rebellion," James exclaimed as the
Primate presented tlie paper ; and the resistance of the clcrg\- was
no sooner announced to him than he determined to wreak his
vengeance on the prelates who had signed the protest. He ordered
the I-'cclcsiastical Commissioners to deprive Ihem of their sees, but
5 li 2
1462
HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE
CHAP.
Sec. VI in this matter even the Commissioners .shrank from obeying hirn.
The The Chancellor, Lord Jeffreys, advised a prosecution for libel as an
Sti-art
'Tyk.\nny
1682
THE SEVEN BISHOPS.
Picture in National Portrait Gallery.
easier mode of punishment : and the bishops, who refused to give
bail, were committed on this charge to the Tower. They passed to
THE REVOLUTION
1463
their prison amidst the shouts of a great multitude, the sentinels
knelt for their blessing as they entered its gates, and the soldiers of
the garrison drank their healths. So threatening was the temper
of the nation that his ministers pressed James to give wa}'. But
his obstinacy grew with the danger. " Indulgence," he said,
" ruined my father ; " and on the 29th of June the bishops appeared
as criminals at the bar of the King's Bench. The jury had been
packed, the judges were mere tools of the Crown, but judges and
jury were alike overawed b}- the indignation of the people at large.
No sooner had the foreman of the jur\- uttered the words " Not
guilty ' than a roar of applause burst from the crowd, and horse-
men spurred along ever}- road to carry over the countr}- the news
of the acquittal.
Sec. VI
The
Second
Stuart
TVR.\NNV
1682
TO
1688
THK SEVKX niSIKM'S CDI.NG To THK •|T)\VKK.
hiigelands Cothiiioist en Vryheid hersteld door den Ileere Prince van Oremjen,"
Amsterdam, 1689.
cow If ,
MEDAL COMMEMOKATING TKi.^.- ■..,..1.. ol DENMARK OVER SWEDEN, 1677.
(Reverse J
CHAP. IX
THE REVOLUTION
1465
Sec. VII
William
OF
Orange
Section VII. — "William of Orange
\Autlioritics. — As before]
Amidst the tumult of the Plot and the Exclusion Bill the wiser
among English statesmen had fixed their hopes steadily on the
succession of Mary, the elder daughter and heiress of James. The
tyranny of her father's reign made this succession the hope of the
people at large. But to Europe the importance of the change,
whenever it should come about, lay not so much in the succession
of Hilary, as in the new power which such an event would give to her
husband, William Prince of Orange. We have come in fact to a
moment when the struggle of England against the aggression of its
King blends with the larger struggle of Europe against the aggres-
sion of Lewis the Fourteenth, and it is only by a rapid glance at
the political state of the Continent that we can understand the real
nature and results of the Revolution which drove James from the
throne.
At this moment I'rance was the dominant power in Christen-
dom. The religious wars which began with the Reformation had
broken the .strength of the nations around her. Spain was no
longer able to fight the battle of Catholicism. The Peace of
Westphalia, by the independence it gave to the German princes
and the jealousy it kept ali\e between the Protestant and Catholic
powers of Germany, destroyed the strength of the Empire. The
German branch of the House of Austria, spent with the long
struggle of the Thirty Years' War, had enough to do in battling
hard against the advance of the Turks from Hungary on Vienna.
The victories of Gustavus and of the generals whom he formed had
been dearly purchased by the exhaustion of Sweden. The L^nited
Provinces were as yet hardly regarded as a great power, and were
trammelled by their contest with ICngland for the empire of the
seas. France alone profited by the general wreck. The wise
policy of Hcnr)' the Fourth in .securing religious peace by a grant
William
and
Europe
The
Great-
ness of
France
C Ev,
CHAP. IX
THE REVOLUTION
1467
of toleration to the Protestants had undone the ill effects of its Sec. vn
relicrious wars. The Huguenots were still numerous south of the Wiluam
O O Qp
Loire, but the loss of their fortresses had turned their energies into Orange
the peaceful channels of industr\- and trade. Feudal disorder was
roughly put down by Richelieu, and the polic\" which gathered all
local power into the hands of tl)e crown, though fatal in the end to
the real welfare of France, gave it for the moment an air of good
government, and a command over its internal resources which no .
other country could boast. Its compact and fertile territory, the
natural activity and enterprise of its people, and the rapid growth
of its commerce and manufactures, were sources of natural wealth
which even its heax'v taxation
failed to check, hi the latter
half of the seventeenth century
France was looked upon as the
wealthiest power in Europe.
The yearly income of the French
crown was double that of Eng-
land, and c\'en Lewis the Four-
teenth trusted as much to the
credit of his treasury as to the
glory of his arms. " After all,"
he said, when the fortunes of
war began to turn against him,
" it is the last louis d'or which
must win ! " It was in fact this
supcriorit}' in wealth which enabled France to set on foot forces
such as had never been seen in Europe since the downfall of
Rome. At the opening of the reign of Lewis the Fourteenth its
army mustered a hundred thousand men. With the war against
Holland it rose to nearh' two lumdrcd thousand. In the last
struggle against the Grand Alliance there was a time when it
counted nearly half a million of men in arms. Nor was I-'rance
content with these enormous land forces. Since the ruin of Spain
the fleets of Holland and of ICngland had alone dispulctl the
empire of the seas. Under Richelieu and Ala/.arin T'rance could
hardly be looked upon as a nawal power. Ikit the earl\- years
of Lewis saw the creation (jf a na\\- of 100 men-of-war, and
CARDINAL MAZARIN.
Front a miniature by Petitot, in the South
Kensington Mnsemii.
MARSHAL Tl'RF.XNF.
From a miniature hy P. Scuin. in the South Kensington Mnsctun.
CHAP. IX
THE REVOLUTION
1469
the fleets of France soon held their own against England or Sfc. vii
the Dutch. '^''^';'^^'
Such a power would have been formidable at any time ; but it '^i^ge
was doubly formidable when directed by statesmen who in know- ^he^Four-
ledge and ability were without rivals in Europe. No diplomatist teenth
LOUIS XIV.
From ait original engraving iy R . Xanictiil, 1670.
could compare with Lionne, no war minister with Louvois, no
financier with Colbert. Their young master, Lewis the Fourteenth,
bigoted, narrow-minded, commonplace as he was, without personal
honour or personal courage, without gratitude and without pit)-,
insane in his pride, insatiable in his vanity, brutal in his selfishness,
had still many of the qualities of a great ruler: imlustr)-, patience,
LOUIS II., PRINCE DE CO.NDE.
From a i>ti>iiatnre in the South Kensington I^Inseuin.
CHAP. IX THE REVOLUTION J471
quickness of resolve, firmness of purpose, a capacity for discerning sei. v:i
oreatness and using it, an immense self-belief and self-confidence, wilmam
and a temper utterly destitute indeed of real greatness, but with a Orange
dramatic turn for seeming to be great. As a politician Lewis had
simply to reap the harvest which the two great Cardinals who went
before him had sown. Both had used to the profit of France the
exhaustion and dissension which the wars of religion had brought
upon Europe. Richelieu turned the scale against the House of
Austria by his alliance with Sweden, with the LJnited Provinces,
and with the Protestant princes of Germany ; and the two great
treaties by which Mazarin ended the Thirty Years' War, the
Treaty of Westphalia and the Treaty of the Pyrenees, left the
Empire disorganized and Spain powerless. From that moment France
indeed Spain sank into a strange decrepitude. Robbed of the '"" ' ''^"""
chief source of her wealth by the independence of Holland,
weakened at home by the revolt of Portugal, her infantry-
annihilated by Conde in his victory of Rocroi, her fleet ruined by
the Dutch, her best blood drained away to the Indies, the energies
of her people destroyed by the suppression of all libert}', civil or
religious, her intellectual life crushed by the Inquisition, her
industry crippled by the expulsion of the Moors, by financial
oppression, and by the folly of her colonial system, the kingdom
which under Philip the Second had aimed at the empire of the
world lay helpless and exhausted under Philip the Fourth. The
aim of Lewis from 1661, the year when he really became master of
France, was to carry on the policy of his predecessors, and above
all to complete the ruin of Spain. The conquest of the Spanish
provinces in the Netherlands would carry his border to the Scheldt.
A more distant hope lay in the probable extinction of the Austrian
line which now sat on the throne of Spain. By securing the
succession to that throne for a French prince, not only Castillo and
Aragon with the Spanish dependencies in Italy and the Nether-
lands, but the Spanish empire in the New World would be added
to the dominions of j-'rance. Nothing could save .Si)ain but a luiion
of the European powers, and to prevent this union by his negotia-
tions was a work at which Lewis tfjiled for years. The intervention
of the Empire was guarded against Ijy a renewal of the old
alHanccs between I''rance and the lesser (jern)an piinces. A league
1472 HISTORY OF THJ': KNCiLISH l']:OPLK chap.
Orangf.
Sec^^ii with the Turks gave Austria enough to do on licr eastern border.
^^'of''^^' ^^^^ *^'^ league with Sweden, the old friendship with Holland were
skilfull)- maintained. The polic)' of Charles the Second bound
Englantl to the side of Lewis. At last it seemed that the moment
JOHN DE AVITT.
From a conti'iit/iorary engraving by Laiithey't I'ischer.
for which he had waited liad come, and the signing of the Treat}-
of Breda gave an opportunit\- for war of which Lewis availed him-
self in 1667. But the suddenness and completeness of the French
success awoke a general terror before which the skilful diplomac\-
of Charles s:ave wa\-. Holland was roused to a sense of danger at
IX
THE REVOLUTION 147^
home by the appearance of French arms on the Rhine. England Sec. vii
woke from her letharo"\- on the French seizure of the coast-towns wilha.m
•-'■' OF
of Flanders. Sweden joined the two Protestant powers in the O'^ll'"'
Triple Alliance ; and the dread of a wider league forced Lewis to
content himself with the southern half of Flanders, and the '668
possession of a string of fortresses which practically left him
master of the Netherlands.
Lewis was maddened by the check. He had alwa}-s disliked William
the Dutch as Protestants and Republicans ; he hated them now as Orange
an obstacle which must be taken out of the way ere he could
resume his projects upon Spain. Four years were spent in
preparations for a decisive blow. The P'rench army was gradually
raised to a hundred and eighty thousand men. Colbert created a
fleet which rivalled that of Holland in number and equipment.
Sweden was again won over. England was again secured b)'
the Treaty of Dover.- Meanwhile Holland lay w^rapped in a false
security. The French alliance had been its traditional polic\' since
the days of Henry the Fourth, and it was especially dear to the
party of the great merchant class which had mounted to power on
the fall of the House of Orange. John dc Witt, the leader of this
party, though he had been forced to conclude the Triple Alliance
by the advance of Lewis to the Rhine, still clung blindl}- to the
friendship of France. His trust only broke down when the
French army crossed the Dutch border in 1672, and the glare of
its watch-fires was seen from the walls of Amsterdam. For the
moment Holland la}- crushed at the feet of Lewis, but the
arrogance of the conqueror roused again the stubborn courage
which had wrung victory from Alva and worn out the pride of
Philip the Second. De Witt was murdered in a popular tumult, 1672
and his fall called William, the Prince of Orange, to the head of
the Republic. Though the new Stadholder had hardly reached
manhood, his great qualities at once made themselves felt. His
earlier life had schooled him in a wcjnderful self-control. He had
been left fatherless and all but friendless in childhood, he had been
bred among men who looked on his very existence as a danger to
the State, his words had been watched, his looks noted, his friends
jealously withdrawn. In such an atmosphere the b()\- grew up
silent, war\', self-contained, grave in tenijjcr, coUl in tlemcanour,
1474
HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE
CHAP.
Sec. VII blunt and even repulsive in addre.ss. He was weak and sickly
William from Ilis cradlc, and manhood brought \\ith it an asthma and
OF
Orangk consumption which shook his frame with a constant cough ;
WILLIAM III. WHEN A CHILD.
Ffoin an etching hy Leon Richeton, in " Tlie Portfolio" of a picture by Rembrandt, at Altliorp.
his face was sullen and bloodless and scored with deep lines
which told of ceaseless pain. VtwX. beneath this cold and sickly
presence lay a fiery and commanding temper, an immovable
courage, and a political ability of the highest order. William was
IX
THE REVOLUTION
U75
a born statesman. Neglected as his education had been in other
ways, for he knew nothing of letters or of art, g
he had been carefully trained in politics by John
de Witt : and the wide knowledge with which
in his first address to the States-General the young
Stadholdcr reviewed the general state of P^urope,
the cool courage with which he calculated the
chances of the struggle, at once won him the
trust of his countrymen. Their trust was soon
rewarded. Holland was saved, and province after
province won back from the arms of France, by
William's dauntless resolve. Like his great ancestor
William the Silent, he was a luckless commander,
and no genei'al had to bear more frequent defeats.
But he profited by defeat as other men profit by
victory. His brav-ery indeed was of that nobler
cast which rises to its height in moments of ruin
and dismay. The coolness with which, boy-general
as he was, he rallied his broken squadrons amidst
the rout of Seneff, and wrested from Conde at the
last the fruits of his victory, moved his veteran
opponent to a generous admiration. It was in
such moments indeed that the real temper of the
man broke through the veil of his usual reserve. A
strange light flashed from his eyes as soon as he
was under fire, and in the terror and confusion of
defeat his manners took an ease and gaiety that
charmed every soldier around him.
The political ability of William was seen in
the skill with which he drew Spain and the House
of Austria into a coalition against France, a union
which laid the foundation of the Grand Alliance.
But France was still matchless in arms, and the
effect of her victories was seconded by the selfish-
ness of the allies, and above all by the treacherous
diplomacy of Charles the Second. William was
forced to con. sent in 1678 to the Treaty of Nimcguen,
which left France dominant over ]un'0])c as she Irul never been
V(JL. IV— Taki 32 5 (■
DUTCH MUSKK.r.
Seventeenth
Century,
Tower of London.
Sec. VII
William
OF
Orange
1476
HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE
CHAP.
Sec. VII before. Holland indeed was saved from the revenge of Lewis, but
William frcsh si)cm1s had been wrested from Sixain, and Franche-Comte,
OF ' '
Orangi; ■^vhieh had l)een restored at the close of the former war, was
William i-^taincd at the end of this. Above all France overawed Europe
and
Charles bv thc darincf and success with which she had faced single-handed
II.
the witic coalition against her. Her King's arrogance became
unbounded. Lorraine was turned into a subject state. Genoa
FRENCH riSTOLIERS AT THK STORMING OF AERDENBURGH, 1672.
F}-oin Contemporary Dutch Eng7-aving.
was bombarded, and its Doge forced to seek pardon in thc
antechambers of Versailles. The Pope was humiliated by thc
march of an arm}- upon Rome to avenge a slight offered to the
French ambassador. The ICmjjire was outraged by a shameless
seizure of Imperial fiefs in Elsass and elsewhere. The whole
Protestant world was defied by the persecution of the Huguenots
which was to culminate in the revocation of the Edict of Nantes.
In thc mind of Lewis peace meant a series of outrages on thc
THE REVOLUTION 1477
powers around him ; but every outrage helped the cool and silent Sec. vii
adversary who was looking on from the Hague to build up that William
Great Alliance of all Europe from which alone he looked for an\' Orange
effectual check to the ambition of France. The experience of the
last war had taught W^iiliam that of such an alliance England must
form a part, and the efforts of the Prince ever since the peace had
been directed to secure her co-operation. A reconciliation of the
King with his Parliament was an indispensable step towards
freeing Charles from his dependence on France, and it was such a
reconciliation that William at first strove to bring about ; but he
was for a long time foiled by the steadiness with which Charles
clung to the power whose aid was needful to carry out the schemes
which he was contemplating. The change of policy however
which followed on the fall of the Cabal and the entry of Danby
into power raised new hopes in William's mind ; and his marriage 1677
with Mary dealt Lewis what proved to be a fatal blow. James
was without a son, and the marriage with Mar\' would at any rate
ensure William the aid of England in his great enterprise on his
father-in-law's death. But it was impossible to wait for that event,
and though the Prince used his new position to bring Charles
round to a decided policy his efforts remained fruitless. The
storm of the Popish Plot complicated his position. \n the earlier
stages of the Exclusion Bill, when the Parliament seemed resolved
simply to pass over James and to seat Mary at once on the throne
after her uncle's death, William stood apart from the struggle,
doubtful of its issue, though prepared to accept the good luck if it
came to him. l^ut the fatal error of Shaftesbury in advancing the
claims of Monmouth forced him into action. To preserve his
wife's right of succession, with all the great issues which were to
come of it, no other course was left than to ad()pt the cause of the
Duke of York. In the crisis of the struggle, therefore, William
threw his whole weight on the side of James. The eloquence of
Halifax secured the rejection of the IC.xclusion Jiill. and Halifax
was but the mouthpiece of William.
]^ut while England was seething with the madness of the William
Popish JMot and of the royalist reaction, the great lunoijcan jamcs II.
struggle was drawing nearer and nearer. The patience of
Germany was worn out b) the ceaseless aggressions of Lc-wis,
5 (^ -'
CHAP. IX
THE REVOLUTION i479
Okange
and in 1686 its princes had bound themselves at Augsburg to Sec. vii
resist all further encroachments on the part of France. From that Wili.jam
moment war became inevitable, and William watched the course of
his father-in-law with redoubled anxiety. His efforts to ensure
English aid had utterly failed. James had renewed his brother's
secret treat}- with France, and plunged into a quarrel with his
people which of itself would have prevented him from giving any
aid in a struggle abroad. The Prince could only silently look on,
with a desperate hope that James might yet be brought to a nobler
policy. He refused all encouragement to the leading malcontents
who were already calling on him to interfere in arms. On the
other hand he declined to support the King in his schemes for the
abolition of the Test. If he still cherished hopes of bringing
about a peace between the King and people which might enable
him to enlist England in the Grand Alliance, they vanished
in 1687 before the Declaration of Indulgence. It was at this
m.oment that James called on him to declare himself in favour
of the abolition of the penal laws and of the Test. But simul-
taneously with the King's appeal came letters of warning and
promises of support from the leading English nobles. Some,
like the Hydes, simply assured him of their friendship. The
Bishop of London added promises of support. Others, like
Devonshire, Nottingham, and Shrewsbury, cautiously or openly
warned the Prince against compliance with the King's demand.
Lord Churchill announced the resolve of Mary's sister Anne
to stand b)- the cause of Protestantism. Danby, the leading repre-
sentative of the great Tory part}-, sent urgent warnings. The
letters dictated William's answer. No one. he trul}^ protested,
loathed religious persecution more than he himself did, but in
rcla.xing political disabilities James called on him to countenance an
attack on his own religion. " I cannot," he ended, '' concur in
what your Majesty desires of mc." But William still shrank from
the plan of an intervention in arms. General as the disaffection
undoubtedl}' was, the position of James seemed fairly secure. He
counted on the aid of France. He had an army of twenty thou-
sand men. Scotland, disheartened by the failure of Arg}'li's rising,
could give no such aid as it gave to the Long I'arliamcnt. Ireland
was ready to throw a Catholic arni}- (mi the western coast. It was
y ^
CHAP. IX THE REVOLUTION
doubtful if in England itself disaffection would turn into actual Sec. vii
rebellion. The " Bloody Circuit " had left its terror on the Whigs, wjlliam
J ^ OF
The Tories and the Churchmen, angered as they were, were Orange
hampered by their doctrine of non-resistance. William's aim
therefore was to discourage all violent counsels, and to confine
himself to organizing such a general opposition as would force
James by legal means to reconcile himself to the country, to
abandon his policy at home and abroad, and to join the alliance
against France.
But at this moment the whole course of William's policy was The In-
changed b)' an unforeseen event. His own patience and that of the "Citation
nation rested on the certainty of Mary's succession. But in the
midst of the King's struggle with the Church it was announced
that the Queen was again with child. The news was received with 1688
general unbelief, for five years had passed since the last pregnancy
of Mary of Modena. But it at once forced on a crisis. If, as the
Catholics joyously foretold, the child turned out a boy, and, as was
certain, was brought up a Catholic, the highest Tory had to
resolve at last whether the t)^ranny under which England lay
.should go on for ever. The hesitation of the country was at an
end. Danby, loyal above all to the Church and firm in his hatred
of subservience to France, answered for the Tories ; Compton for
the High Churchmen, goaded at last into rebellion by the Declara-
tion of Indulgence. The Earl of Devonshire, the Lord Cavendish
of the Exclusion struggle, answered for the Nonconformists, who
were satisfied with William's promise to procure them toleration,
as well as for the general body of the Whigs. The announcement
of the birth of a Prince of Wales was followed ten daj-s after by a ^,,,,^ ^^
formal invitation to William to intervene in arms for the restora-
tion of h-nglish lihcrt\- and the protection of the Protestant
religion ; it was signed by the representatives of the great parties
now united against a common danger, and by some others, and
was carried to the Hague by Herbert, the most popular of ICnglish , ^^^. ,^
seamen, who had been dei)ri\C(l of his connnand for a refusal to
vote against the Test. The Imitation called on William to land
with an army strong en(;ugh to justify thost- who signed it in rising
in arms. It was .sent from London on the tlay after the aciiuittal
of the Bishops. The general excitement, the shouts ol tlic boats
1482
HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE
CHAP.
Sec. vii which covcrcd the river, the bonfires in ever\- street, showed indeed
William that the countr\- was on the eve of revolt. The army itself, on
OF
Oranck -which James had implicill\- relied, suddcnl}- .showed its sympathy
^{"■' , with the people, lames was at Hounslow when the news of the
Discontent vcrdict reached him, and as he rode from the camp he heard a
great shout behind him. "What is that.'" he askxd. "It is
nothing," was the rcpl)-, " onl\- the soldiers are glad that the
Bi.shops are acquitted ! " " Do you call that nothing ? " grumbled
the Kin<j. The shout told him that he stood utterh- alone in his
THE SEVEN BISHOPS RETURNING FROM THE TOWER.
" Engc lands Godsdienst hersteld" 1689.
realm. The peerage, the gcntr\-, the Bishops, the clergy, the
Universities, every lawxcr, ever}- trader, ever\- farmer, stood aloof
from him. And now his very soldiers forsook him. The most
devoted Catholics pressed him to give way. But to gixe wa\- was
to change the whole nature of his government. All show of legal
rule had disappeared. Sheriffs, ma\ors, magistrates, appointed by
the Crown in defiance of a parliamentar\' statute, were no real officers
in the eye of the law. Even if the Houses were summoned,
members returned by officers such as these could form no legal
Parliament. IIardl\- a Minister of the Crown or a Privy Councillor
IX
THE REVOLUTION
148;
Orange
exercised an\' lawful authority. James had brought things to such Sec. vii
a pass that the restoration of legal government meant the absolute ^^'"-^J'^^'
reversal of ever}- act he had done. But he was in no mood to
reverse his acts. His temper was only spurred to a more dogged
obstinacy b}- danger and remonstrance. He broke up the camp at
Hounslow and dispersed its troops in distant cantonments. He
dismissed the two judges who had favoured the acquittal of the
Bishops. He ordered the
chancellor of each dio-
cese to report the names
of the clergy who had
not read the Declaration
of Indulgence. But his
will broke fruitlessly
against the sullen resist-
ance which met him on
every side. Not a chan-
cellor made a return to
the Commissioners, and
the Commissioners were
cowed into inaction by
the temper of the nation.
When the judges who
had displayed their ser-
vility to the Crown went
on circuit the gentry
refused to meet them.
A yet fiercer irritation
was kindled by the King's
resolve to suppl)- the
place of the English troops, whose temper pro\-cd unserviceable
for his purposes, by draughts from the Catholic arm}- which
Tyrconnell had raised in Ireland. Even the Roman Catholic
peers at the Council table protested against this measure ; and
si.v officers in a single regiment laid down their commissions
rather than enrol the Irish recruits among their men. The
ballad of " LiUibullcro," a scurrilous attack on the Irish recruits,
was suncf from one end of luicrland to llic other.
SATIKICAI, PI,AVI.\G CARD.
Temp. James II.
British Musaiin.
THE REVOLUTION 148 =
An outbreak of revolt was in fact inevitable. William was Sec. vii
strainincr all his resources to grather a fleet and sufficient forces, William
** ^ OF
while noble after noble made their wa}- to the Hague. The Earl orange
of Shrewsburv brought ^^2,000 towards the expenses of the William's
^ '■ ^ Landing
expedition. Edward Russell, the representative of the Whig Earl 1688
of Bedford, was followed b}- the representatives of great Tory
houses, by the sons of the Alarquis of Winchester, of Lord Danby,
of Lord Peterborough, and by the High Church Lord Macclesfield.
At home the Earls of Danby and Devonshire prepared silently
with Lord Lumley for a rising in the North. In spite of the pro-
found sccrec}' with which all was conducted, the keen instinct
of Sunderland, who had stooped to purchase continuance in office
at the price of a .secret apostasy to Catholicism, detected the
preparations of William ; and the sense that his master's ruin was
at hand encouraged him to tell every .secret of James on the
promise of a pardon for the crimes to which he had lent himself.
James alone remained stubborn and insensate as of old. He had
no fear of a revolt unaided by the Prince of Orange, and he
believed that the threat of a French attack on Holland would
render William's departure impossible. But in September the
long-delayed war began, and by the greatest political error of his
reign Lewis threw his forces not on Holland, but on Germany.
The Dutch at once felt them.selves secure ; the States-General gave
their sanction to William's project, and the armament he had
prepared gathered rapidly in the Scheldt. The news no sooner
reached England than the King passed from obstinacy to panic.
By draughts from Scotland and Ireland he had mustered fort\- James
thou.sand men, but the temper of the troops robbed him of all trust
in them. Help from France was now out of the question. He
could only fall back on the older policy of a union with the Tory
j)arty and the party of the Church. I le personally appealed for
support to the Bishops. He dissolved the I'xclesiastical Commis-
sion. He replaced the magistrates he had driven from office. He
restored their franchises to the towns. The Chancellor carried
back the Charter of Lrjndon in state into the Cit\-. The Bisliop of
W^inchester was sent to replace the e.xpellcd h'ellows of Magdalen.
Catholic chapels and Jesuit schools were ordered to be closed.
Sunderland i)rcssed for tiie instant calling of a Parliament, but to
i,^l7'fS 7vaj'
,4S(. HISTORY OF iHE KNGLISH TEOPLE chap.
Skc. VII James the counsel seemed treacher>-, and he dismissed Sunderland
wiTITam from office. In answer to a declaration from the Prince of Orange,
Or^ni;k which left the question of the legitimacy of the Trincc of Wales to
Parliament, he produced before the peers who were in London
proofs of the birth of his child. But concessions and proofs came
_ The too late. Detained by ill winds, beaten back on its first venture b)-
AV.W//V a violent storm, W illiam s fleet of six hundred transports, escorted
b\- fift\' men-of-war, anchored on the fifth of November in Torbay ;
and his army, thirteen thousand men strong, entered Exeter
amidst the shouts of its citizens. His coming had not been looked
for in the West, and for a week no great landowner joined him.
But nobles and squires soon flocked to his camp, and the adhesion
of Plymouth secured his rear. Insurrection broke out in Scotland.
Danby, dashing at the head of a hundred horsemen into York,
ga\-e the signal for a rising. The militia met his appeal with
shouts of " A free Parliament and the Protestant religion ! " Peers
and gentry flocked to his standard ; and a march on Nottingham
united his forces to those under Devonshire, who had mustered at
Derby the great lords of the midland and eastern counties. Ever)--
wherc the revolt was triumphant. The garrison of Hull declared
for a free Parliament. The Duke of Norfolk appeared at the head
of three hundred gentlemen in the market place at Norwich. At
Oxford townsmen and gownsmen greeted Lord Lovelace with
uproarious welcome. Bristol threw open its gates to the Prince of
Orange, who advanced steadily on Salisbury, where James had
mustered his forces. But the King's army, broken by dissensions
and mutual suspicions among its leaders, fell back in disorder ; and
the desertion of Lord Churchill was followed by that of so many
other officers that James abandoned the struggle in despair. He
fled to London to hear that his daughter Anne had left St. James's
to join Danby at Nottingham. " God help me," cried the wretched
Flight of King, " for my own children have forsaken me!" His spirit was
utterly broken ; and though he promised to call the Hou.ses
together, and despatched commissioners to Hungerford to treat
with William on the terms of a free Parliament, in his heart he had
resolved on flight. Parliament, he said to the few who still clung
to him, would force on him concessions he could not endure ; and
lie only waited for news of the escape of his wife and child to make
James
IX THE REVOLUTION 148;
his way to the Isle of Sheppey, where a hoy lay ready to carry him Sec. vii
to France. Some roimh fishermen, who took him for a Jesuit, William
^ -'of
prevented his escape, and a troop of Life Guards brought him Oraxge
back in safety to London : but it was the policy of William and his
advisers to further a flight which removed their chief difficult}- out
of the wa}-. It would have been hard to depose James had he
remained, and perilous to keep him prisoner: but the entr}- of the
Dutch troops into London, the silence of the Prince, and an order
to leave St. James's, filled the King with fresh terrors, and taking
advantage of the means of escape which were almost openly placed
at his disposal, James a second time quitted London and embarked
on the 23rd of December unhindered for France.
Before flying James had burnt most of the writs convoking the The Re-
new Parliament, had disbanded his army, and destro}-ed so far as
he could all means of government. For a few da\-s there was a
wild burst of panic and outrage in London, but the orderly instinct
of the people soon reasserted itself The Lords who were at the
moment in London provided on their own authorit}' as Privy
Councillors for the more pressing needs of administration, and
resigned their authority into William's hands on his arrival. The
difficulty which arose from the absence of any person legally
authorized to call Parliament together was got over by convoking
the House of Peers, and forming a second bod\' of all members
who had sat in the Commons in the reign of Charles the Second,
with the Aldermen and Common Councillors of London. Both
bodies requested William to take on himself the provisional The Con-
government of the kingdom, and to issue circular letters inviting -'^'n 'o"
^ ^ ' ^ 16S9
the electors of every town and county to send up representatives
to a Convention which met in January, 1689. In the new Conven-
tion both Houses were found equally resolved against an\- recall of
or negotiation with the fallen King. They were united in en-
trusting a provisional authority to the Prince of Orange. But with
this step their unanimity ended. The Whigs, who formed a
majorit}' in the Commons, voted a resolution which, illogical and
inconsistent as it .seemed, was well adapted to unite in its favour
every element of the opposition to James : the Churchman who
was simply scared b)' his bigotry, the Tor\- who doubted the right
i)f a nation to tlepose its King, the \\'Iiig who held the tlicorv of a
CHAP. IX THE REVOLUTION 1489
contract between King and People. They voted that King James, Sec. vii
" having endeavoured to subvert the constitution of this kingdom wilham
^ _ ^ OF
by breaking the original contract between King and People, and Orange
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." But in the Lords, where the Tories were still in
the ascendant, the resolution was fiercely debated. Archbishop
Sancroft with the high Tories held that no crime could bring about
a forfeiture of the crown, and that James still remained King, but
that his tyranny had given the nation a right to withdraw from
him the actual exercise of government and to entrust his functions
to a Regency. The moderate Tories under Danby's guidance
admitted that James had ceased to be King, but denied that the
throne could be vacant, and contended that from the moment of
his abdication the sovereignty vested in his daughter Mary. It
was in vain that the eloquence of Halifax backed the Whig peers
in struggling for the resolution of the Commons as it stood. The
plan of a Regency was lost by a single vote, and Danby's scheme
was adopted by a large majority. But both the Tory courses
found a sudden obstacle in William. He declined to be Regent.
He had no mind, he said to Danby, to be his wife's gentleman-
usher. Mar)-, on the other hand, refused to accept the crown save
in conjunction with her husband. The two declarations put an
end to the question. It was agreed that William and Mary should
be acknowledged as joint sovereigns, but that the actual adminis-
tration should rest with William alone. A Parliamentary Com- Dcdara-
mittec in which the most active member was John Somers, a younir 'u"i°!
iaw)-cr who had distinguished himself in the trial of the Bishops
and who was destined to play a great part in later history, drew uj)
a Declaration of Rights which was presented on February 1 3th to
William and Mar)' by the two Houses in the banqueting-room at
W'hitcliall. It recited the misgovernmcnt of James, his abdication,
and the resolve of the Lords and Commons to assert the ancient
rights and liberties of ]Migli.sh subjects. It condemned as illegal
his establishment of an ecclesiastical commission, and his raising
an army without Parliamentary sanction. It denied the right of
any king to suspend ()\- dispense with laws, or to exact money,
I490
HISTORY OF THE ExNGLISH PEOPLE
CHAP.
SecVII save by consent of rarliamcnt. It asscrlcd for the subject a right
William to petition, to a frcc choicc of representatives in rarhamcnt, and to
Orangk .^ j,j,,.,_. .^,^^j „^^>,■^^ifl,l administration of justice It declared the right
GREAT SF.AL OF WILLIAM AND MARY.
(Obverse.)
of both Houses to Hbert\' of debate. It demanded securities for
the free exercise of their religion b}- all Protestants, and bound the
new sovereign to maintain the Protestant religion and the law and
liberties of the realm. In full faith that these principles would be
THE REVOLUTION
1491
accepted and maintained by William and Mary, it ended with sec. vii
declaring; the Prince and Princess of Orange King- and Oueen William
& ^ ^ — OF
of England. At the close of the Declaration, Halifax, in the name Orange
GREAT SEAL OF WILLIAM AND MARY.
(Reverse.)
of the Estates of the Realm, prayed them to receive the crown.
William accepted the offer in his own name and his wife's, and
declared in a few words the resolve f)f both to maintain the laws
and to govern by advice of Parliament.
Vol. IV— I'AKr 32 5 L)
1492 HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE chap.
Sec. VIII
The Grand
Alliance
1689
ilgy Section VIII.— The Grand Alliance, 1689— 1697
[Authorities. — As before.]
The The blunder of Lewis in choosing Germany instead of Holland
AlHance for his point of attack was all but atoned for by the brilliant suc-
cesses with which he opened the war. The whole country west of
the Rhine was soon in his hands ; his armies were masters of the
Palatinate, and penetrated even to Wurtcmberg. His hopes had
never been higher than at the moment when the arrival of James
at St. Germain dashed all hope to the ground. Lewis was at once
thrown back on a war of defence, and the brutal ravages which
marked the retreat of his armies from the Rhine revealed the bitter-
ness with which his pride stooped to the necessity. The Palatinate
was turned into a desert. The same ruin fell on the stately palace
of the Elector at Heidelberg, on the venerable tombs of the
Emperors at Speyer, on the town of the trader, on the hut of the
vine-dresser. In accepting the English throne William had been
moved not so much by personal ambition as by the prospect of
firmly knitting together England and Holland, the two great Pro-
testant powers whose fleets held the mastery of the sea, as his
diplomac}- had knit all Germany together a year before in the Treaty
of Augsburg. But the ad\'ance from such a union to the formation
of the European alliance against France was still delayed b\' the
reluctance of the two branches of the House of Austria in Germany
and Spain to league with Protestant States against a Catholic King,
while England cared little to join in an attack on France with the
view of saving the liberties of Europe. All hesitation, however,
passed away when the reception of James as still King of England
at St. Germain gave England just ground for a declaration of war,
a step in which it was soon followed by Holland, and the two
countries at once agreed to stand by one another in their struggle
against France. The adhesion of Spain and the Court of Vienna
in 1689 to this agreement completed the Grand Alliance which
William had designed ; and when Savoy joined the Allies France
found herself girt in on every side save that of Switzerland with a
IX
THE REVOLUTION
1493
ring of foes. The Scandinavian kingdoms alone stood aloof from sec^iii
the confederacy of Europe, and their neutrality was unfriendly to '^'^^^^.TcT
France. Lewis was left without a single ally save the Turk : but 1689
1697
WILLIAM HI
From a picture by Sir Godfrey Knelicr at Windsor Castle.
the energy and quickness of movement which sprang from the con-
centration of the power of France in a single hand still left the
contest an erjual one. The I'.inpire was slow to nio\c : the C'ourt
5 i> 2
1494 HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE
Sec. VIII of Vienna was distracted by a war with the Turks ; Spain was all
The Grand but Dowcrlcss ; Holland and Enfjland were alone earnest in the
Allian'ce * ^
1689 struggle, and iMigland coiikl as yet give little aid in the war. One
TO
1697 English brigade, indeed, formed from the regiments raised by
James, joined the Dutch army on the Sambre, and distinguished
itself under Churchill, who had been rewarded for his treason by
the title of Karl of ]\Larlborough, in a brisk skirmish \vith the
enemy at \\\alcourt. ]-5ut William had as yet grave work to do at
home,
William In England not a sword had been drawn for James. In
Scotland Scotland his tyranny had been yet greater than in England, and so
far as the Lowlands went the fall of his tyranny was as rapid and
complete. No sooner had he called his troops southward to meet
William's invasion than Edinburgh rose in revolt. The western
peasants were at once up in arms, and the Episcopalian clergy who
had been the instruments of the Stuart misgovernment ever since
the Restoration were rabbled and driven from their parsonages in
every parish. The news of these disorders forced W^illiam to act,
though he was without a show of legal authority over Scotland.
On the advice of the Scotch Lords present in London, he ventured
to summon a Convention similar to that which had been summoned
in England, and on his own responsibility to set aside the laws
which excluded Presbyterians from the Scotch Parliament. This
Convention resolved that James had forfeited the crown by mis-
government, and offered it to William and Mar)-. The offer was
accompanied by a Claim of Right framed on the model of the
Declaration of Rights to which they had consented in England, but
closing with a demand for the abolition of Prelac}-. Both crown
and claim were accepted, and the arrival of the Scotch regiments
which \\"illiam had brought from Holland gave strength to the
new Government. Its strength was to be roughl}- tested. John
Graham of Claverhouse, whose cruelties in the persecution of the
Western Covenanters had been rewarded b\' a high command in
the Scotch army, and the title of Viscount Dundee, withdrew
with a few troopers from Edinburgh to the Highlands, and
appealed to the clans. In the Highlands nothing was known of
English government or misgovernment : all that the Revolution
meant to a Highlander was the restoration of the House of
IX
THE REVOLUTION
1495
Argyll. To many of the clans it meant the restoration of lands Sec. viii
which had been s^ranted them on the Earl's attainder ; and the 1"^ grand
•=> ' Alliance
JOHN GKAHAMK OK Cl.AVtRHOUSK, VISCOUNT DUNUKIC.
From a picture in the possession of Lady E. Leslie-Melvillc-Cartiuright.
Macdonalds, the Macleans, and the Camcrons, were as read}' to
join Dundee in fii^htiii^^ the Campbells and tlie Government wliich
1496
HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE
Secviii upheld them as they had been read>- to join Montrose in the same
Alliance" ^'^^-^^ ^^^^'^Y >'cars bcforc. They were soon in arms. As William's
1689 Scotch regiments under General ]\Lickay climbed the i)ass of
TO
1697 Killiecrankie, Dundee charged them at the head of three thousand
A7///V- clansman and swept them in headlong rout down the glen. But
//X"i689 ^^'"^ <-icath in the moment of victory broke the onl>' bond which held
the Highlanders together, and in a few weeks the host which had
spread terror through the Lowlands melted helplessly away. In
the next summer Mackay was able to build the strong post of Fort
KlLLlECKANKnC.
William in the ver)- heart of the disaffected country, and his offers
of money and pardon brought about the submission of the clans.
Sir John Dalrymplc, the Master of Stair, in whose hands the
government of Scotland at this time mainly rested, had hoped that
a refusal of the oath of allegiance would give grounds for a war of
extermination, and free Scotland for ever from its terror of the
Highlanders. He had provided for the expected refusal by orders
of a ruthless severity. " Your troops," he wrote to the officer in
com.mand, "will destroy entirely the countr}-of Lochaber, Lochiel's
IX
THE REVOLUTION
T497
lands, Keppoch's, Glengarry's and Glencoe's. Your powers shall Sec. viii
be large enough. I hope the soldiers will not trouble the The Grand
/- ■ 1 • M T-v 1 • 1 Alliance
Government with prisoners. But his hopes were disappointed by 1689
the readiness with which the clans accepted the offers of the 1697
Government. All submitted in good time save Macdonald of Massacre
Glcncoe, whose pride delayed his taking of the oath till six days c/tu-oe
after the latest date fixed by the proclamation. lH)ilcd in his
larger hopes of destruction, Daliymplc seized eagerly on the
pretext given by Macdonald, and an order " for the extirpation of
1498 HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE
Sec. VIII that sect of robbers" was laid before William and receiv-ed the
tme gkand royal sig-naturc. " The work," wrote the Master of Stair to Colonel
16S9 Hamilton who undertook it, " must be secret and sudden." The
TO
1697 troops were chosen from among the Campbells, the deadly foes of
the clansmen of Glencoe, and quartered peacefully among the
Macdonalds for twelve days, till all suspicion of their errand
Feb. 13, disappeared. At da\-brcak the}' fell on their hosts, and in a few
1692
moments thirty of the clansfolk lay dead on the snow. The rest,
sheltered b}' a storm, escaped to the mountains to perish for the
most part of cold and hunger. " The only thing I regret," said
the Master of Stair when the news reached him, " is that any got
away." Whatever horror the Massacre of Glencoe has roused in
later days, few save Dalrymple knew of it at the time. The peace
of the Highlands enabled the work of reorganization to go on
quietly at Edinburgh. In accepting the Claim of Right with its
repudiation of Prelacy, William had in effect restored the Presby-
terian Church, and its restoration was accompanied by the revival
of the Westminster Confession as a standard of faith, and by the
passing of an Act which abolished lay patronage. Against the
Toleration Act which the King proposed, the Scotch Parliament
stood firm. But the King was as firm in his purpose as the
Parliament. So long as he reigned, William declared in memor-
able words, there should be no persecution for conscience' sake.
" We never could be of that mind that violence was suited to the
advancing of true religion, nor do we intend that our authority
shall ever be a tool to the irregular passions of any party."
The It was not in Scotland, however, but in Ireland that James and
Revolt I-cwis hoped to arrest William's progress. In the middle of his
reign, when his chief aim was to provide against the renewed
depression of his fellow religionists at his death by any Protestant
successor, James had resolved (if we may trust the statement of the
French ambassador) to place Ireland in such a position of
independence that she 'might serve as a refuge for his Catholic
subjects. Lord Clarendon was dismissed from the Lord
Lieutenancy and succeeded in the charge of the island by the
Catholic Larl of T}Tconnell. The new governor, who was raised
to a dukedom, went roughly to work. Every Englishman was
turned out of office. Every Judge, ever)- Privy Councillor, every
THE REVOLUTION
1499
TO
1697
Mayor and Alderman of a borough was required to be a Catholic Sec. viii
and an Irishman. The Irish army, raised to the number of fifty The Grand
•' ■' Alliance
thousand men and purged of its Protestant soldiers, was entrusted 1689
to Catholic officers. In a few months the English ascendency was
overthrown, and the life and fortune of the English settlers were at
the rncrc}' of the natives on whom they had trampled since
Cromwell's day. The King's flight and the agitation among the
native Irish at the news spread panic therefore through the island.
JAMES ir. LANDING AT KINSAI.E.
Eii^tlants S^hoH'Mloneel verbecldende het vlitgle van Jacobus II.," Amstcrdain, 1690.
Another massacre was believed to be at hand ; and fifteen hundred
Protestant families, chiefly from the south, fled in terror over sea.
The Protestants of the north on the other hand drew together at
P2nniskillen and Londonderry, and prepared for self-defence. The
outbreak however was still dela)'cd, and for two months Tyrconncll
intrigued with William's Government. But his aim was simply to
gain time. He was in fact inviting James to return to Ireland, and
at the news of his coming with officers, ammunition, and a supply
of money pro\ided b}- the I'rcnch King, T)-rconncll threw off the
16S9
1500
HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE
CHAT.
1689
TO
1697
Sec. viii mask. A flag was hoisted over Dublin Castle, with the words
The Grand embroidered on its folds " Now or Never." The signal called
Alliance
every Catholic to arms. The maddened natives flung themselves
on the plunder which their masters had left, and in a few weeks
havoc was done, the French envoy told Lewis, which it would take
years to repair. Meanwhile James sailed from France to Kinsale.
His aim was to carry out an invasion of England with the fifty
thousand men that Tyrconncll was said to have at his disposal.
But his hopes were ruined by the war of races which had broken
THE WALLS OF LONDONDERRY.
Built 1609.
After IV. H. BartUtt.
out. To Tyrconncll and the Irish leaders the King's plans were
utterly distasteful. Their policy was that of Ireland for the Irish,
and the first step was to drive out the Englishmen who still stood
SiciTc of at bay in Ulster. Half of Tyrconnell's army therefore had been
' dcrry sent against Londonderr}', where the bulk of the fugitives found
shelter behind a weak wall, manned by a {<i\v old guns, and
destitute even of a ditch. But the seven thousand desperate
Englishmen behind the wall made up for its weakness. So fierce
were their sallies, so crushing the repulse of his attack, that the
King's general, Hamilton, at last turned the siege into a blockade.
IX
THE REVOLUTION
1501
The Grand
Alliance
1689
TO
1697
The Protestants died of hunger in the streets, and of the fever which sec^iii
comes of hunger, but the cry of the town was still " No Surrender."
The siege had lasted a hundred and five days, and only two days'
food remained in Londonderry, when on the 28th of July an English
ship broke the boom across the river, and the besiegers sullenly
withdrew. Their defeat was turned into a rout by the men of
Enniskillen, who struggled through a bog to charge an Irish force
of double their number at Newtown Butler and drove horse and foot
SIEGE OF LONDONDERRY.
" Engclants Schomvioneel," ^'c, 1690.
before them in a panic ^^'hich soon spread through Hamilton's
whole army. The routed soldiers fell back on Dublin, where
James lay helpless in the hands of the frenzied Parliament which
he had summoned. Every member returned was an Irishman and
a Catholic, and their one aim was to undo the successive
confiscations which had given the soil to English settlers and to
get back Ireland for the Irish. The Act of Settlement on which
all title to property rested was at once repealed in spite of the
King's reluctance. Three thousand Protestants of name and
HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE
CHAP.
Sec. VIII fortune were massed together in the hugest Bill of Attainder
The Grand ^vhich thc workl has seen. In spite of James's promise of religious
Alliance
1689
TO
1697
TABERNACLE AND CANDLESTICKS GIVEN BY lAMES II. TO CHRISTCHUKCH
CATHEDRAL, DUBLIN.
from a drawing by Mr. Thomas Drew, R.H.A.
freedom, thc Protestant clergy were driven from their parsonages,
Fellows and scholars were turned out of Trinit}' Coll-ege, and
IX
THE REVOLUTION
1503
the French envoy, the Count of Avaux, dared even to propose Sec. viii
that if any Protestant rising took place on the English descent, as "^^^^J^^^^^
was expected, it should be met by a general massacre of the 1689
Protestants who still lingered in the districts which had submitted 1697
to James. To his credit the King shrank horror-struck from the
proposal. " I cannot be so cruel," he said, " as to cut their throats
EXCHANGE, LONDONDERRY, AS REBUH.T AFTER THE SIEGE.
while they live peaceably under my government." " Mercy to
Protestants," was the cold reply, " is cruelty to Catholics."
Through the long agony of Londonderry, through the proscrip- England
tion and bloodshed of the new Irish rule, William was forced to Revolu-
look helplessly on. The best troops in the army which had been tion
mustered at Ilounslow had been sent witli Marlborough lo the
Sambrc ; and the i)oliticaI embarrassments which grew ui) around
1504
HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE
CHAP.
1689
TO
1697
Bill of
Rights
Sec. VIII the Government made it impossible to spare a man of those who
the~g^and remained. The great ends of the Revolution were indeed secured,
Alliance . 1 • 1 1 11 1
even amidst the confusion and intrii;uc which wc shall have to
describe, by the common consent of all. On the great questions
of civil liberty Whig and Tory
were now at one. The De-
claration of Rights was turned
into the Bill of Rights by the
Convention which had now be-
come a Parliament, and the
passing of this measure in 1689
restored to the monarchy the
character which it had lost un-
der the Tudors and the Stuarts.
The right of the people through
its representatives to depose the
King, to change the order of
succession, and to set on the
throne Avhom they would, was
now established. All claim of
Divine Right, or hereditary right
independent of the law, was
formally put an end to by the
election of William and Mary.
Since their day no English
sovereign has been able to ad-
vance any claim to the crown
save a claim which rested on a
particular clause in a particular
Act of Parliament. William,
Mary, and Anne were sovereigns
simply by virtue of the Bill of
Rights. George the First and his
successors have been sovereigns solely by virtue of the Act of
Settlement. An English monarch is now as much the creature of
an Act of Parliament as the pettiest tax-gatherer in his realm.
Nor was the older character of the kingship alone restored. The
older constitution returned with it. Bitter experience had taught
MACE MADE FOR THE GILDS
CORK, 1696.
South Kensington Museum.
IX ' THE REVOLUTION
1505
England the need of restoring to the PanHament its absolute sec. viii
power over taxation. The grant of revenue for life to the last the Grand
Allianxe
two kings had been the secret of their anti-national policy, and k
the first act of the new legislature was to restrict the grant of the 1697
royal revenue to a term of four years. William was bitterly galled Taxation
by the provision. " The gentlemen of England trusted King
James," he said, " who was an enemy of their religion and their
laws, and they will not trust me, by whom their religion and their
laws have been preserved." But the only change brought about
in the Parliament by this burst of royal anger was a resolve
henceforth to make the vote of supplies an annual one, a resolve
which, in spite of the slight changes introduced by the next Tory
Parliament, soon became an invariable rule. A change of almost The Army
as great importance established the control of Parliament over
the army. The hatred to a standing army which had begun
under Cromwell had only deepened under James ; but with the
continental war the existence of an army was a necessity. As yet,
however, it was a force which had no legal existence. Tlie soldier
was simply an ordinary subject ; there were no legal means of
punishing strictly military offences or of providing for military
discipline : and the assumed power of billeting soldiers in private
houses had been taken away by the law. The difficulty both of
Parliament and the army was met by the Mutiny Act. The
powers requisite for discipline in the army w^ere conferred by
Parliament on its officers, and provision was made for the pay of
the force, but both pay and disciplinary powers were granted only
for a single year. The Mutiny Act, like the grant of supplies, has
remained annual ever since the Revolution ; and as it is impossible
for the State to exist without supplies, or for the army to exist
without discii)linc and pay, the annual assembly of Parliament
has become a matter of absolute necessity. The greatest consti-
tutional change which our history has witnessed was thus brought
about in an indirect but perfectly efficient way. The dangers 77,^.
which experience had lately shown lay in tlic Parliament itself P^^^^a-
wcre met with far less skill. Under Charles, iMigland had seen a
Parliament, which had been returned in a moment of reaction,
maintained without fresh elcctitJii for eighteen years. A Triennial
Bill, which liinitctl the durati(jn of a I'arliamcnL to three, was
CHAP. IX
THE REVOLUTION
1507
passed with little opposition, but fell before the dislike and veto
of William. To counteract the influence which a king might
obtain by crowding the Commons with officials proved a yet
harder task. A Place Bill, which excluded all persons in the
employment of the State from a scat in Parliament, was defeated,
and wisely defeated, in the Lords. The modern course of
providing against a pressure from the Court or the administration
by excluding all minor officials, but of preserving the hold of
Parliament over the great officers of State by admitting them into
its bod)', seems as yet to have occurred to nobody. It is equally
strange that while vindicating its right of Parliamentary control
over the public revenue and the army, the Bill of Rights should
have left by its silence the control of trade to the Crown. It was
only a few years later, in the discussions on the charter granted to
the East India Company, that the Houses silently claimed and
obtained the right of regulating English commerce.
The religious results of the Revolution were hardly less
weighty than the political. In the com.mon struggle against
Catholicism Churchman and Nonconformist had found themsel\-es,
as we have seen, strangely at one ; and schemes of Comprehension
became suddenly popular. But with the fall of James the union
of the two bodies abruptly ceased : and the establishment of a
Presbyterian Church in Scotland, together with the " rabbling "
of the E!piscopalian clergy in its western shires, revived the old
bitterness of the clergy towards the dissidents. The Convocation
rejected the scheme of the Latitudinarians for such modifications
of the Prayer-book as would render possible a return of the
Nonconformists, and a Comprehension Bill which was introduced
into Parliament failed to pass in spite of the King's strenuous
support. William's attempt to partiall}' admit Dis.scnters to civil
equality by a repeal of the Corporation Act proved equally
fruitless ; but the passing of a Toleration Act in 1689 practicall)'
established freedom of worship. Whatever the religious effect of
the failure of the Latitudinarian schemes may have been, its
political effect has been of the highest value. At no time had the
Church been .so strong or so popular as at the Revolution, and the
reconciliation of the Nonconformists would have doubled its
strength. It is doubtful whether the disinclination to all political
Vol. IV— Part 33 5 h
The Grand
Allianxe
1697
Tolera-
tion
and the
Church
Tolera-
tion Act
i5o8
HISTORY OF I'HE ENGLISH PEOPLE chap.
SEc.viii change which has characterized it during the last two hundred
The"g^an„ years would have been affected by such a change ; but it is certain
'^689" that the power of opposition which it has wielded would have been
1697 enormous])' increased. As it was, the Toleration Act established
a grouo of religious bodies whose religious opposition to the
Church forced them to support the measures of progress which
j<-—
NOXCONFORMIST CHAPEL, DEAN ROW, CHESHIRI'
Built 1693.
Eanvaker, " £ast Cheshire."
the Church opposed. With religious forces on the one side and
on the other England has escaped the great stumbling-block
in the way of nations where the cause of religion has become
identified with that of political reaction. A secession from within
The Xon- its own ranks weakened the Church still more. The doctrine of
Divine Right had a strong hold on the body of the clergy, though
they had been driven from their other favourite doctrine of passive
jurors
THE REVOLUTION
1509
obedience, and the requirement of the oath of allegiance to the Sec. viii
new sovereigns from all persons in public functions was resented The Grand
" '■ '■ Alliance
as an intolerable wrong by almost every parson. Sancroft, the 1689
TO
Archbishop of Canterbury, with a few prelates and a large number 1697
of the higher clcrg}-, absolutely refused the oath, treated all who
took it as schismatics, and on their deprivation by Act of
Parliament regarded themselves and their adherents, who were
known as Nonjurors, as the only members of the true Church of
England. The bulk of the clergy bowed to necessity, but their
bitterness against the new Government was fanned into a flame
b}' the religious polic\' announced in this assertion of the
supremacy of Parliament over the Church, and the deposition of
bishops by an act of the legislature. The new prelates, such as
Tillotson, the Archbishop of Canterbury, and Burnet, Bishop of
Salisbury, were men of learning and piety ; but it was only among
Whigs and Latitudinarians that William and his successors could
find friends among the clergy, and it was mainly to these that they
were driven to entrust the higher offices of the Church. The
result was a severance between the higher dignitaries and the mass
of the clergy which broke the strength of the Church ; and till the
time of George the Third its fiercest strife was waged within its
own ranks. But the resentment at the measure which brought
this strife about alread)' added to the difficulties which William
had to encounter.
Yet greater difficulties arose from the temper of his Parliament. The Act
In the Commons the bulk of the members were Whigs, and their
first aim was to redress the wrongs which the Whig party had
suffered during the last two reigns. The attainder of Lord Russell
was reversed. The judgements against Sidney, Cornish, and Alice
Lisle were annulled. In spite of the opinion of the judges that the
sentence on Titus Oates had been against law, the Lords refused
to reverse it, but even Oates received a pardon and a pension.
The Whigs however wanted not merely the redress of wrongs but
the punishment of llic \vr(jng-doers. Whig and Tor\- had jjccii
united, indeed, by the tyranny of James ; both parties had shared
in the Revolution, and William had striven to prolong their union
b\- joining the leaders of both in his first Ministry. Me named the /wi/im/
Tory I'.arl of Danln Lord I'residenl, made the Whig I'.arl ,,f 'A//'"'//'''-^
5 !•- ^
•-' > ±
o ^ .^
^ '5 ?
o js
►J — ^
O c --.
CHAP. IX THE REVOLUTION 1511
Shrewsbury Secretary of State, and gave the Privy Seal to Lord Sec. viii
Halifax, a trimmer between the one party and the other. But tke grand
' '■ •' Alliance
save in a moment of common oppression or common danger union 1689
TO
was impossible. The Whigs clamoured for the punishment of 1697
Tories who had joined in the illegal acts of Charles and of James,
and refused to pass the Bill of General Indemnity which William
laid before them. William on the other hand was resolved that no
bloodshed or proscription should follow the revolution which had
placed him on the throne. His temper was averse from persecu-
tion ; he had no great love for either of the battling parties ; and
above all he saw that internal strife would be fatal to the effective
prosecution of the war. While the cares of his new throne were
chaining him to England, the confederacy of which he was the
guiding spirit was proving too slow and too loosely compacted to
cope with the swift and resolute movements of France. The
armies of Lewis had fallen back within their own borders, but only
to turn fiercely at bay. Even the junction of the English and
Dutch fleets failed to assure them the master}- of the seas. The
English navy was paralyzed by the corruption which prevailed in
the public service, as well as by the sloth and incapacity of its
commander. The services of Admiral Herbert at the Rev^olution
had been rewarded by the Earldom of Torrington and the
command of the fleet ; but his indolence suffered the seas to be
swept by French privateers, and his want of seamanship was shown
in an indecisive engagement with a French squadron in Bantr}'
Ba}'. ^Meanwhile Lewis was straining ever\- ner\-c to win the
command of the Channel ; the French dock}'ards were turning out
ship after ship, and the gallej's of the Mediterranean fleet were
brought round to reinforce the fleet at Brest. A French victor}-
off the English coast would have brought serious political danger,
for the reaction of popular feeling which liatl begun in favour of
James had been increased by the pressure of the war, by the taxa-
tion, b}' the expulsion of the Nonjurors and the discontent of the
cicrg}', b}- the panic of the Tories at the spirit of vengeance whicli
broke out among the lriumi)hant W'liigs, and above all b}- the
presence cjf James in Ireland. A new party, that of the Jacobites 'l'"'
•' ^ . /iicohif.-s
or adherents of King James, was just forming ; and it was feared
that a Jacobite rising would follow the appearance of a I^Vench fleet
^512
HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE
CHAP.
Sec. VI 11 on thc coast. In .such a state of affairs William judged rightly
The Grand that to vicld to thc Whig thirst for vengeance would have been
Alliance ' fc> t>
1689 to ruin his cause. He dissolved thc Parliament, which had refused
TO
1697 to pass a Bill of Indemnity for all political offences, and called a
1690 new one to meet in March. The result of the election proved that
he had only expressed the general temper of the nation. The
boroughs had been alienated from thc Whigs by their refusal to
pass the Indcmnit}-, and their attempts to secure the Corporations
for their own part}" ; while in the counties parson after parson led
his flock to thc poll against the Whigs. In the new Parliament
thc bulk of the members proved Tories. William accepted the
resignation of thc more violent Whigs among his councillors, and
MED.\I, CO.M.MEMUR.ATING RESTOR-VflOX OF TOW.N CHARTERS, l6gO.
Battle
of the
Boyne
placed Danby at thc head of affairs. In May thc Houses gave
their assent to the Act of Grace. Thc King's aim in this sudden
change of front was not only to meet the change in the national
spirit, but to secure a momentary lull in P^nglLsh faction which
would suffer him to strike at thc rebellion in Ireland. While
James was King in Dublin it was hopeless to crush treason at
home ; and so urgent was the danger, so precious every moment in
the present juncture of affairs, that William could trust no one to
bring the work as sharply to an end as was needful save himself
In the autumn of thc year 16S9 the Duke of Schomberg, an
exiled Huguenot who had followed William to England, had been
sent with a small force to Ulster, but his landing had onlv roused
IX
THE REVOLUTION
Ireland to a fresh enthusiasm. The ranks of the Irish army were Sec. viii
filled up at once, and James was able to face the Duke at Dros:heda '^'he Grand
^ -^ ^ Alliance
with a force double that of his opponent. Schomberg, whose men 1689
were all raw recruits whom it was hardly possible to trust at such 1697
L;.MLU1CK 1 kU-M lilL iEA.
Dra-Li'ing, c. 1685, in British Museum.
odds in the field, entrenched himself at Dundalk, in a camp where
pestilence soon swept off half his men, till winter parted the two
armies. During the next six months James, whose treasury was
utterly exhausted, strove to fill it by a coinage of brass mone)-,
while his soldiers subsisted by sheer plunder. William meanwhile
was toilinsr hard on the other side of the Channel to brincf the Irish
CARRICKFEKGUS.
Draiuing, c. 1680, British Museum.
war to an end. Schomberg was strengthened during the winter
with men and stores, and when the spring came his force reached
thirty thousand men. Lewis too felt the importance of the coming
struggle; and seven thousand picked I'"r(;nclimcn, iiiulcr the C'oimt
I5I4
lllsroKV OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE
CHAP.
Sec. VUI
The Grand
ALLIANXli
1689
TO
1697
1690
The Irish
War
of Lauziin, were despatched to reinforce the army of James. They
had hardly arrived when WilHam himself landed at Carrickfcrgus,
and pu-shcd rapidh'to the
south. His columns soon
caught sight of the Irish
forces, posted strongly
behind tlic l^o}'ne. " I am
glad to see you, gentle-
men," William cried with
a burst of delight; "and
if you escape mc now
the fault will be mine."
P>ar]y next morning the
whole PLnglish arm}'
pkmgcd into the river.
The Irish foot broke in
a sudden panic, but the
horse made so gallant a
stand that Schomberg
fell in repulsing its
charge, and for a time
the English centre was
held in check. With the
arrival of William, how-
ever, at the head of the
left wing all was over.
James, who had through-
out been striving to se-
cure the withdrawal of
his troops rather than
frankly to meet Wil-
liam's onset, forsook his
troops as they fell back
in retreat upon Dublin,
and took ship at Kin-
sale for France.
But though the beaten army was forced by William's pursuit to
abandon the capital, it was still resolute to fight. The incapacity
ARMOUR WORN BY JA.MES il. AT THE iiOYM;.
Tower of Loudon.
THE REVOLUTION
TO
1697
of the Stuart sovereign moved the scorn even of his followers. Sec. viii
" Chanee kingrs with us," an Irish officer replied to an Englishman The Grand
* ^ i c3 Alliance
who taunted him with the panic of the Boyne, " change kings with 1689
us and we will fight }-ou again." They did better in fighting with-
out a king. The French, indeed, withdrew scornfully from the
routed arm\' as it stood at bay beneath the walls of Limerick.
" Do you call these ramparts ? " sneered Lauzun : " the English will
need no cannon ; they may batter them down with roasted apples."
But twenty thousand men remained with Sarsfield, a brave and
skilful officer who had seen service in England and abroad ; and
KING JOHNS cAMl.i;. I.I MEK ICK.
A/Ur 11: //. llartlett.
his daring surprise of the English ammunition train, his repulse of
a desperate attempt to storm the town, and the approach of the
winter, forced William to raise the siege. The course of the war
abroad recalled him to England, and he left his work to one who
was quietly proving himself a master in the art of war. Churchill,
now Earl of Marlborough, had been recalled from I'landcrs to
command a division which landed in the south of Ireland. (^nl\'
a few days remained before the operations were intcrruptcil 1)\-
the coming of winter, but ihc few da)'s were turncti to gootl
account. Cork, with five thousand men bdiiiid its walls, was taken
1516 HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE chap.
SEajviii in forty-ci*;ht hours. Kinsale a few days later shared the fate of
'aiIianck" Cork. Winter indeed left Connaught and the greater part of
1689 Minister in Irish hands ; the French force remained untouched, and
TO
1697 the coming of a new P^rench general, St. Ruth, \\ith arms and
Ireland sup]ilies encouragcd the insurgents. But the summer of 1691 had
conquered , ,, , , ^- i i, , ,, ,. , , , , .
hardly opened when Cjuik-ell, tlie new J'.nghsh general, by his seizure
of Athlone forced on a battle with the combined h^rench and Iri.sh
forces at Aughrim, in which St. Ruth fell on the field and his army
was utterly broken. The defeat left Limerick alone in its revolt,
Oct. 169 1 and even Sarsfield bowed to the necessit)- of a surrender. Two
treaties were drawn up between the Irish and English generals.
By the first it was stipulated that the Catholics of Ireland .should
enjoy such privileges in the exercise of their religion as were con-
sistent with law, or as they had enjoyed in the reign of Charles the
Second. The Crown pledged itself also to summon a Parliament
as soon as possible, and to endeavour to procure to the good
Roman Catholics security " from any disturbance upon the account
of the said religion." By the military treaty tho.se of Sarsfield's
soldiers who would were suffered to follow him to France ; and ten
thousand men, the whole of his force, chose exile rather than life in
a land where all hope of national freedom was lost. When the
wild cry of the women who stood watching their departure was
hushed, the silence of death settled down upon Ireland. For a
hundred years the country remained at peace, but the peace was a
peace of despair. The most terrible legal tyranny under which a
nation has ever groaned a\enged the rising under T}-rconnell. The
conquered people, in Swift's bitter words of contempt, became
'• hewers of wood and drawers of water " to their conquerors.
Though local risings of these serfs perpetually spread terror among
the ICnglish settlers, all dream of a national revolt passed away ;
and till the eve of the French Revolution Ireland ceased to be a
source of political danger to England.
The Short as the struggle of Ireland had been, it had served Lewis
Jacobite
Plots \vell, for while William was bu.s)- at the Boyne a .scries of brilliant
successes was restoring the fortunes of France. In Flanders the
Duke of Luxembourg won the victory of PTeurus. In Italy
Marshal Catinat defeated the Duke of Savoy. A success of even
greater moment, the last victor\- which France was fated to win at
IX
THE REVOLUTION
1517
sea, placed for an instant the very throne of WilHam in peril. Sec. viii
William never showed a cooler courage than in quittino; Enjjland i'hk Gkand
to fight James in Ireland at a moment when the Jacobites were 1689
only looking for the appearance of a French fleet on the coast to 1697
rise in revolt. He was hardly on his way in fact when Toiirville, [une 30,
the French admiral, put to sea with strict orders to fight. He was '^^°
met by the English and Dutch fleet at Beachy Head, and the Dutch
division at once engaged. Though utterly outnumbered, it fought
stubbornly in hope of Herbert's aid ; but Herbert, whether from
MEDAL OF LOUIS XIV. CO.M.MEMOKATl.NG VICTORY AT UKACIIY IIKAD.
(Reverse.)
cowardice or treason, looked idly on while his allies were crushed
and withdrew at nightfall to seek shelter in the Thames. The
danger was as great as the shame, for Tourville's victory left him
master of the Channel, and his presence off the coast of l)c\on
invited the Jac(jbites to revolt. But whatever the discontent o{ Fnu,li
Tories and Nonjurors against William might be, all signs of it ''''^<'''"^ ">'
vanished with the landing of the J"'rench. The burm'ng of
Teignmouth by Tourville's sailors called the whole coast to arms ;
and the news of tlu: Hoyne put an end to all clrcuns of a risini; in
1
CHAP. IX THE REVOLUTION 1519
favour of James. The natural reaction against a cause which Sec. viii
looked for foreigrn aid grave a new strength for the moment to the Grand
William in England ; but ill luck still hung around the Grand 1689
Alliance. So urgent was the need for his presence abroad that 1697
William left, as we have seen, his work in Ireland undone, and
crossed in the spring of 1691 to Flanders. It was the first time
since the days of Henry the Eighth that an English king had
appeared on the Continent at the head of an English army. But
the slowness of the allies again baffled William's hopes. He was
forced to look on with a small army while a hundred thousand
Frenchmen closed suddenly around Mons, the strongest fortress of
the Netherlands, and made themselves masters of it in the
presence of Lewis. The humiliation was great, and for the
moment all trust in William's fortune faded away. In England
the blow was felt more heavily than elsewhere. The Jacobite
hopes which had been crushed by the indignation at Tourville's
descent woke up to a fresh life. Leading Tories, such as Lord fntrigucs
Clarendon and Lord Dartmouth, opened communications with Enirland
James ; and some of the leading Whigs, with the Earl of
Shrewsbury at their head, angered at what they regarded as
William's ingratitude, followed them in their course. In Lord
Marlborough's mind the state of affairs raised hopes of a double
treason. His design was to bring about a revolt which would drive
William from the throne without replacing James, and give the
crown to his daughter Anne, whose affection for IMarlborough's
wife would place the real government of England in his hands. A
yet greater danger lay in the treason of Admiral Russell, who had
succeeded Torrington in command of the fleet. Russell's defection
would have rcmov^cd the one obstacle to a new attempt which
James was resolved to make for the recovery of his throne, and
which Lewis had been brought to support. In the beginning of
1692 an army of thirty thousand troops was quartered in
Normandy in readiness for a descent on the Lmglish coast.
Transports were provided for their passage, antl Tourville was
ordered to cover it with the French fleet at Brest. Though
Russell had twice as many ships as his opponent, the belief in his
purpcsc of betraying William's cause was so strong that Lewis
ordered Tourville to engage tiie allied Heels at any disadvantage.
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< — :-Cx :;:;s;x P<
CHAP. IX
THE REVOLUTION
1521
But whatever Russell's intrigues may have meant, he was no sec. viii
Herbert. " Do not think I will let the French triumph over us in ihe Grand
'■ Alliance
our own seas," he warned his Jacobite correspondents. " If I meet 1689
them, I will fight them, even though King James were on board. 1697
When the allied fleets met the French off the heights of Barfleur his Battle of
fierce attack proved Russell true to his word. Tourville's fifty ^" °^"^
vessels were no match for the ninety ships of the allies, and after
five hours of a brave struggle the French were forced to fly along
the rocky coast of the Cotentin. Twenty-two of their vessels
N^iVi (IJJ ;jr>> !y,ri': dat r/
i< ^
MEDAL COMMEMORATING VICTORY AT LA HOGUK.
(Reverse.)
William's reply to Louis's medal for victory at Beachy He.ad.
reached St. Malo ; tliirtccn anchf^rcd with Tour\illc in the bays of
Cherbourg and La Ilogue ; but their pursuers were soon upon
them, and in a bold attack the English boats burnt ship after ship
under the eyes of the I'^rcnch arm)-. All dread of the iinasion was
at once at an end ; and the throne of William was secured ])\- the
detection and suppression of the Jacobite conspirac}- at home
which the invasion was intended to supi)ort. Ikit the o^Mthrow of The t ion
the Jacf;l)ite hopes was the least result of the \-ictor\- oi' La Ilogue.
l*" ranee ceased from that moment to exist as a great !i,i\al power ;
of I In
1522 HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE chap,
Sec. VIII for though her fleet was soon recruited to its former strength, the
The Grand confidence of hcr sailors was lost, and not even Tourville ventured
Alliance
1689 again to tempt in battle the fortune of the seas. A new hope, too,
TO
1697 dawned on the Grand Alliance. The spell of French triumph was
broken. Namur indeed surrendered to Lewis, and the Duke of
Luxembourg maintained the glorx- of the French army b\- a \ictory
1692 over William at Steinkirk. ]3ut the battle was a useless butchery
in which the conquerors lost as many men as the conquered.
France felt herself disheartened and exhausted by the vastness of
her efforts. The public misery was extreme. " The country, '
Fenelon wrote frankly to Lewis, "is a vast hospital." In 1693 the
campaign of Lewis in the Netherlands proved a fruitless one, and
Luxembourg was hardly able to beat off the fierce attack of
William at Xcerwindcn. Vov the first time in his long career of
prosperity Lewis bent his pride to seek peace at the sacrifice of his
conquests, and though the effort was vain it told that the daring
hopes of French ambition were at an end, and that the work of the
Grand Alliance was practically done.
The First In outer seeming, the Revolution of 1688 had only transferred
Mhfisu-y ^^^^ sovereignty over England from James to William and Mary.
In actual fact it had given a powerful and decisive impulse to
the great constitutional progress which was transferring the
sovereignty from the King to the House of Commons. From
the moment when its sole right to tax the nation was established
by the Bill of Rights, and when its own resolve settled the practice
of granting none but annual supplies to the Crown, the House
of Commons became the supreme power in the State. It was
impossible permanent!}- to suspend its sittings, or in the long run
to oppose its will, when either course must end in leaving the
Government penniless, in breaking up the army and navy, and in
suspending the public service. But though the constitutional
change was complete, the machinery of government was far from
having adapted itself to the new conditions of political life which
The sovc- such a change brought about. However powerful the will of the
'^I'f'tlie Hou.se of Commons might be, it had no means of bringing its will
Commons directly to bear upon the conduct of public affairs. The Ministers
who had charge of them were not its servants, but the servants of
the Crown ; it. was from the King that they looked for direction,
IX THE REVOLUTION 1523
and to the King that they held themselves responsible. By Sec. viii
impeachment or more indirect means the Commons could force the Grand
'■ Alliance
a King to remove a Minister who contradicted their will ; but they 1689
TO
had no constitutional power to replace the fallen statesman by a 1697
Minister who would carry out their wall. The result was the
growth of a temper in the Lower House which drove William and
his Ministers to despair. It became as corrupt, as jealous of
power, as fickle in its resolves and factious in spirit, as bodies
always become whose consciousness of the possession of power is
untempered by a corresponding consciousness of the practical
difficulties or the moral responsibilities of the power which they
possess. It grumbled at the ill-success of the war, at the suffering
of the merchants, at the discontent of the Churchmen : and it
blamed the Crown and its Ministers for all at which it grumbled.
But it was hard to find out what policy or measures it would hav^e
preferred. Its mood changed, as William bitterly complained,
with every hour. It was, in fact, without the guidance of
recognised leaders, without adequate information, and destitute
of that organization out of which alone a definite policy can come.
Nothing better proves the inborn political capacity of the English
mind than that it should at once have found a simple and effective
solution of such a difficulty as this. The credit of the solution
belongs to a man whose political character was of the lowest type.
Robert, Earl of Sunderland, had been a Minister in the later days Lord Sun-
of Charles the Second ; and he had remained Minister through ^''''''^"'"^
almost all the reign of James. He had held office at last only
by compliance with the worst tyranny of his master, and by a
feigned conversion to the Roman Catholic faith ; but the ruin of
James was no sooner certain than he had secured pardon and
protection from William by the betrayal of the master to whom he
had sacrificed his conscience and his honour. Since the Revolu-
tion Sunderland had striven only to escape public observation in
a country retirement, but at this crisis he came secretly forward to
bring his unequalled .sagacity to the aid of the King. I lis counsel The new
was to recognize practically the new power of the Commons by /'<'/-'/'/7
choosing the Ministers of the Crown exclusively from among the •'•:i'i'/''«
members of the part)- which was strongest in the Lower House.
As yet no Ministry in the modern sense of the Icrni Jiad existed.
Vol.. IV — Tart -5:5 c I-
15^4
HISTORY OF lllK KNc;LISH PEOPLE
CHAP.
Sec. viii Each great officer of state, Treasurer or Secretary or Lord Privy
The Grand Seal, had ill thcory been independent of his fellow-otficers ; each
AlLIANCK ' ^ -lirlll C \ •
1689 was the " Kin<4's servant" and responsible lor the discharge ol liis
TO
1697
Ki.ibl.KT Sl'K.NCEK, SKCOND i;Al;L 1 >K SU N DKRLAM).
Future by Carlo Maraita, at Althorpe.
special duties to the King alone. From time to time one
Minister, like Clarendon, might tower above the rest and give a
"■eneral direction to the whole course of government, but the
IX THE REVOLUTION 1525
predominance was merely personal and never permanent ; and sec. viii
even in such a case there were colleagues who were readv to The grand
' Alliance
oppose or even impeach the statesman who overshadowed them. 1689
It was common for a King to choose or dismiss a single Minister 1697
without any communication with the rest ; and so far was even
William from aiming at ministerial unity, that he had striven to
reproduce in the Cabinet itself the balance of parties which
prevailed outside it. Sunderland's plan aimed at replacing these
independent Ministers by a homogeneous Ministry, chosen from
the same part}', representing the same sentiments, and bound
together for common action by a sense of responsibility and
loyalty to the party to which it belonged. Not only would such
a plan secure a unity of administration which had been unknown
till then, but it gave an organization to the House of Commons
which it had never had before. The ^Ministers who were represen-
tatives of the majority of its members became the natural leaders
of the House. Small factions were drawn together into the two
great parties which supported or opposed the Ministry of the
Crown. Above all it brought about in the simplest possible way
the solution of the problem which had so long vexed both King
and Commons. The new Ministers ceased in all but name to
be the King's servants. They became simply an executive
Committee representing the will of the majority of the House of
Commons, and capable of being easily set aside by it and replaced
by a similar Committee whenever the balance of power shifted
from one side of the House to the other.
Such was the origin of that system of representative govern- The
ment which has gone on from Sunderland's day to our own. But J"" °
though William showed his own political genius in understanding
and adopting Sunderland's plan, it was only slowly and tcntativch'
that he ventured to carry it out in practice. In spite of the
temporary reaction Sunderland believed that the balance of
political power was really on the side of the Whigs. Not only
were they the natural rc[)rcsentatives of the principles of the
Revolution, and the supporters of the war, but they stood far
above their opponents in parliamentary and administrative talent.
At their head stood a group of statesmen, whose close union in
thought and action gained them the name of the Junto. Russell.
s I- 2
1526 HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE chap.
Sec. VIII as vct the most prominent of these, was the victor of La Hogue ;
The Grand [ohn Somcrs was an advocate who had sprunc^ into fame by his
Alliance "^ .
1689 defence of the Sc\cn Bishops ; Lord Wharton was known as
1697 the most dexterous and unscrupulous of party managers ; and
IMontague was fast making a reputation as the ablest of English
financiers. In spite of such considerations, however, it is doubtful
whether William would ha\-c thrown himself into the hands of a
pureK' Whig Ministr\- but for the attitude which the Tories took
1694 towards the war. Exhausted as France was the war still
languished, and the allies failed to win a single victory. Mean-
while English trade was all but ruined b\- the French privateers,
and the nation stood aghast at the growth of taxation. The
Tories, always cold in their support of the Grand Alliance, now
became eager for peace. The W'higs, on the other hand, remained
resolute in their support of the war. William, in whose mind the
contest with France was the first object, was thus driven slowly to
The follow Sunderland's advice. Montague had already met the strain
Debt of the war by bringing forward a plan which had been previously
1694 suggested by a Scotchman, \\'illiam Paterson, for the creation of
a National Bank. While serving as an ordinary bank for the
supply of capital, the Bank of England, as the new institution was
called, was in realit}- an instrument for procuring loans from the
people at large b}- the formal pledge of the State to repay the
money advanced on the demand of the lender. A loan of
iJ^ 1, 200,000 was thrown open to public subscription ; and the
subscribers to it were formed into a chartered company in whose
hands the negotiations of all after loans was placed. In ten da\-s
the list of subscribers was full. The discovery of the resources
afforded by the national wealth revealed a fresh source of power ;
and the rapid growth of the National Debt, as the mass of these
loans to the State came to be called, gave a new security against
the return of the Stuarts, whose first work would have been the
repudiation of the claims of the lenders or " fundholders." The
evidence of the public credit gave strength to William abroad,
while at home a new unit\- of action followed the change which
Sunderland counselled and which was quieth' carried out. One
by one the Tory IMinisters, already weakened by Montague's
success, were replaced by members of the Junto. Russell went to
IX
THE REVOLUTION
1527
the Admiralty ; Somers was named Lord Keeper ; Shrewsbury, sec. viu
Secretary of State ; Montague, Chancellor of the Exchequer.
Even before this change was completed its effect was felt. The
House of Commons took a new tone. The Whig majority of its
members, united and disciplined, moved quietly under the direc-
tion of their natural leaders, the Whig Ministers of the Crown.
It was this which enabled William to face the shock which was
given to his position by the death of Queen Mary. The renewed
attacks of the Tories showed what fresh hopes had been raised by
William's lonely position. The Parliament, however, whom the
King had just conciliated by assenting at last to the Triennial Bill,
The Grand
Allianxe
TO
1697
Death of
Marv
1694
vAr
"■i^
': i mm iv,-^'' Ait I
A.'ifi 'j-;i
"'ntA fov"?
f^^'
MED.-\L COMMEMORATING THE STOR.MIXG OF TOUBOCAN (DARIEN), 1 7OO.
went steadily with the Ministry; and its fidelity was rewarded by
triumph abroad. In 1695 the Alliance succeeded for the first
time in winning a great triumpli over France in the capture of
Namur. The King skilfully took advantage of his victory to call
a new Parliament, and its members at once showed their temper
by a vigorous support of the war. The Houses, indeed, were no
mere tools in William's hands. They forced him to resume
prodigal grants of lands made to his Dutch favourites, and to
remove his ministers in Scotland who had aided in a wikl i)rojcct
for a .Scotch colony on the Isthmus of Daricn. They claiinctl a
right to name members of the n(-\v Hoard of Trade, establislu'd for
ir.<j6
I S2S
HISTORY OF THK ENGLISH PEOPLE
CHAP.
Sec. VIII the regulation of commercial matters. They rejected a propcsal,
The Grand ncvcr hcnccforth to bc revived, for a censorship of the Press. But
.Alliance
1697
HOUSE ,\i i. ..., iu^o l..*7 ..-;■ THE MINT.
Seyer, ^' Uleiiiariais of B?-!stol."
there was no factious opposition. So strong was the ministry that
Montague was enabled to face the general distress that was caused
for the moment by a reform of the currcnc\-, which had been
IX THE REVOLUTION 1529
reduced by clipping to far less than its nominal value ; and in Sec. viii
spite of the financial embarrassments created by the reform, the Granu
Alliance
William was able to hold the French at bay. 1689
But the war was fast drawing to a close. Lewis was simpK- 1697
fighting to secure more favourable terms, and William, though he PeacT of
held that "the only way of treating with France is with our swords -^y^wick
in our hands," was almost as eager as Lewis for a peace. The
defection of Savo}- made it impossible to carry out the original
aim of the Alliance, that of forcing France back to its position
at the Treat}- of W^estphalia, and the question of the Spanish
succession was drawing closer every day. The obstacles which
were thrown in the way of an accommodation by Spain and the
Empire were set aside in a private negotiation between W' illiam
and Lewis, and the year 1697 saw the conclusion of the Peace of 1697
Ryswick. In spite of failure and defeat in the field \\'illiam's
policy had won. The victories of France remained barren in the
face of a L'nited Europe ; and her exhaustion forced her, for the
first time since Richelieu's day, to consent to a disadvantageous
peace. On the side of the Empire France withdrew from every
annexation save that of Strassburg which she had made since the
Treat}- of Ximeguen, and Strassburg would have been restored
but for the unhapp}' delays of the German negotiators. To Spain
Lewis restored Luxemburg and all the conquests he had made
during the war in the Netherlands. The Duke of Lorraine was
replaced in his dominions. A far more important provision of the
peace pledged Lewis to an abandonment of the Stuart cause and a
recognition of William as King of England. For Europe in
general the Peace of Ryswick was little more than a truce. But
for England it was the close of a long and obstinate struggle and
the opening of a new ajra of political histor\'. It was the final and
decisive defeat of the conspiracy which had gone on between
Lewis and the .Stuarts ever since the Treat}' of Dover, the
conspiracy to turn luigland into a Roman Catholic countr}- and
into a dcpcndcnc}- of I'rance. But it was even more than this. It
was the definite establishment of P2ngland as the centre of
European resistance against all attempts to o\crthi-o\v the balance
of power.
MARLBOROUGH.
Drawing by Sir G. Kncllcr, in British Mhscuik.
CHAr. IX
THE REVOLUTION
1531
SILVER CALL-WHISTLE.
Seventeenth Century.
In the possession of Lord Zouche.
Sec. IX
Marl-
borough
169S
TO
1712
Section IX. — Marlborough, 1698 — 1712
{Aulhoriiics.— Lord Macaulay's great work, which practically ends at the
Peace of Ryswick, has been continued by Lord Stanhope (" History of England
under Queen Anne") during this period. For ^Marlborough himself the main
authority must be the Duke's biography by Archdeacon Coxe, with his
" Despatches."' The French side of the war and negotiations has been carefully
given by M. Martin (" Histoire de France") in what is the most accurate and
judicious portion of his work. Swift's Journal to Stella and his political
tracts, and Bolingbroke's correspondence, show the character of the Tory
opposition.]
What had bowed the pride of Lewi.s to the hiiniiliatinL;- terms
of the Peace of Ry.swick was not so much the exhaustion of France
as the need of preparing for a new and greater struggle. The
death of the King of Spain, Charles the Second, was known to be
at hand ; and with him ended the male line of the Austrian princes,
who for two hundred years had occupied the Spanish throne.
How strangely Spain had fallen from its high estate in ICurope the
wars of Lewis had abundantly shown, but so vast was the extent
The
Spanish
Succes-
sion
IIISIORV OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE chap.
Sec. IX of its empire, so enormous the resources which still remained to it,
Marl- that uudcr a viiTorous ruler men believed its old power would at
BOROUGH
1698 once return. Its sovereign was still master of some of the noblest
i7i'2 provinces of the Old World and the New, of Spain itself, of the
Milanese, of Naples and Sicily, of the Netherlands, of Southern
America, of the noble islands of the Spanish Main. To add such
a dominion as this to the dominion cither of Lewis or of the
Emperor would be to undo at a blow the work of European
independence which William had wrought ; and it was with a view
to prevent either of these results that William freed his hands by
the Peace of R\-s\vick. At this moment the claimants of the
Spanish succession were three : tlic French Dauphin, a son of the
Spanish King's elder sister ; the Electoral Prince of Bavaria, a
grandson of his younger sister ; and the Emperor, who was a
son of Charles's aunt. In strict law — ^if there had been any law
really applicable to the matter — the claim of the last was the
strongest of the three ; for the claim of the Dauphin was barred by
an express renunciation of all right to the succession at his
mother's marriage with Lewis the Fourteenth, a renunciation
which had been ratified at the Treaty of the Pyrenees ; and a
similar renunciation barred the claim of the Bavarian candidate.
The claim of the Emperor was more remote in blood, but it was
barred b\- no renunciation at all. William, however, was as
resolute in the interests of Europe to repulse the claim of the
Emperor as to repulse that of Lewis ; and it was the consciousness
that the Austrian succession was inevitable if the war continued
and Spain remained a member of the Grand Alliance, in arms
against P^rance, and leagued with the Emperor, which made him
suddenl}- conclude the Peace of R}-swick. Had England and
Holland shared William's temper he would have insisted on
the succession of the P^lectoral Prince to the whole Spanish
dominions. But both were weary of war. In P^ngland the peace
was at once followed by the reduction of the army at the demand
of the House of Commons to fourteen thousand men ; and a
clamour had alrcad\- begun for the disbanding even of these. It
First was necessar}- to bribe the two rival claimants to a waiv^er of their
^rllatv claims ; and by the First Partition Treaty, concluded in 1698,
1698 between England, Holland, and P^-ancc, the succession of the
IX
THE REVOLUTION
1533
Marl-
borough
1698
TO
I7I2
Electoral Prince was recognized on condition of the cession by sec. ix
Spain of its Italian possessions to his two rivals. The Milanese was
to pass to the Emperor ; the Two Sicilies, with the border province
of Guipuzcoa, to France. But the arrangement was hardh-
concluded when the death of the Bavarian prince made the Treaty
waste paper. Austria and France were left face to face, and a
terrible struggle, in which the success of either would be equally
fatal to the independence of Europe, seemed unavoidable. The
peril was greater that the temper of England left William without
the means of backing his policy by arms. The suffering which the
war had caused to the merchant class, and the pressure of the
debt and taxation it entailed, were waking every da}- a more bitter
MEDAL COMMEMORATING FIRST PARTITION TREAIV, 1698.
resentment in the people, and the general discontent avenged itself
on William and the party who had backed his policy. The King's
natural partiality to his Dutch favourites, the confidence he gave
to Sunderland, his cold and sullen demeanour, his endeavours to
maintain the standing army, robbed him of popularity. In the
elections held at the close of 1698 a Tory majority pledged to
peace was returned to the House of Commons. The Junto lost /,;,// „y
all hold on the new Parliament. The resignation of Montague "'<'Ji'"''>
and Russell was followed by the dismissal of the Whig ministry,
and Somers and his friends were replaced b\- an administration
composed of moderate Tories, with Lords Rochester and
Godolphin as its leading members. The fourlccn thousand men
^534
HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE
CHAP.
Sec. IX
Marl-
borough
1698
TO
I7I2
Second
Partition
Trciity
I 700
who still remained in the army were cut down to seven. William's
earnest entreaty could not turn the Parliament from its resolve to
send his Dutch guards out of the country. The navy,
which had numbered forty thousand sailors during the war, was
cut down to eight. How much William's hands were weakened by
this peace-temper of England was shown by the Second Partition
Treaty which was concluded between the two maritime powers
and P^-ancc. The demand of Lewis that the Netherlands should
DUTCH GUARDS.
Temp. William HI.
Flout an engraving by Roiueyn de Hooge.
be given to the Elector of Bavaria, whose political position left him
a puppet in the P'rcnch King's hands, was resisted. Spain, the
Netherlands, and the Indies were assigned to the second son of the
Emperor, the Archduke Charles of Austria. But the whole of the
Spanish territories in Italy were now granted to France ; and it
was provided that Milan should be exchanged for Lorraine, whose
Duke was to be summarily transferred to the new Duchy. If the
Emperor persisted in his refusal to come into the Treaty, the
THE REVOLUTION
1535
MEDAL COMMEMOKATIXG HOMAGE
OF DUKE OF l.ORRAI.NE TO
I.OUIS XIV.
share of his son was to pass to another unnamed prince, who was
probably the Duke of Savoy.
The Emperor still protested, but his protest was of little
moment so long as Lewis and the two maritime powers held
firmly together. Nor was the bitter
resentment of Spain of more avail.
The Spaniards cared little whether
a French or an Austrian prince
sat on the throne of Charles the
Second, but their pride revolted
against the dismemberment of
the monarchy by the loss of its
Italian dependencies. Even the
d}-ing King shared the anger of
his subjects, and a will wrested
from him by the factions which
wrangled over his death-bed be-
queathed the whole monarchy of
Spain to a grandson of Lewis, the Duke of Anjou, the second son
of the Dauphin. The Treaty of Partition was so recent, and
the risk of accepting this bequest so great, that Lewis would
hardl)- have resolved on it but for
his belief that the temper of Eng-
land must necessarily render Wil-
liam's opposition a fruitless one.
Never in fact had England been
so averse from war. So strong
was the antipathy to William's
foreign policy that men openly
approved the French King's
course. Hardly any one in Eng-
land dreaded the succession of a
bo)- who, French as he was,
would as they believed soon be
turned into a Spaniard by the
natural course of events. The succession of the Duke of Anjou
was general 1\- looked upon as far better than the increa.sc of power
which I'rance woukl ha\c derived from the cessions of the last
MEDAL COMMEMORATING NOMINA-
TIO.N OK DUKE OF ANJOU AS
KI.NG OK SI'AIN.
Sec. IX
Marl-
borough
1698
TO
I7I2
The
Second
Grand
Alliance
HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE
Sec. IX
Marl-
borough
1698
TO
I7I2
Duke of
Anjoii ill
Spain
1701
Treaty of Partition, cessions which would ha\c turned the
Mediterranean, it was said, into a French lake, imperilled the
EngHsh trade with the Levant and America, and raised France
into a formidable power at sea. " It grieves me to the heart,"
William wrote bitterly, " that almost every one rejoices that
France has preferred the Will to the Treaty." Astonished
and angered as he was at his rival's breach of faith, he had
no means of punishing it. The Duke of Anjou entered Madrid,
and Lewis proudly
boasted that hence-
forth there were no
Pyrenees. The life-
work of William seem-
ed undone. He knew
himself to be dying.
His cough was inces-
sant, his eyes sunk
and dead, his frame
so weak that he could
hardly get into his
coach. But never had
he shown himself so
great. His courage,
rose with every diffi-
culty. His temper,
which had been heated
by the personal af-
fronts lavished on him
through English fac-
tion, was hushed by a
supreme effort of his
will. His large and
clear-sighted intellect looked through the temporary embarrass-
ments of French diplomacy and English party strife to the great
interests which he knew must in the end determine the course
of European politics. Abroad and at home all seemed to go
against him. For the moment he had no ally save Holland, for
Spain was now united with Lewis, while the attitude of Bavaria
^{JlKuropjBJVftec/ in mis Bch cf .
tll^teafjpafnf &onmi:Cfewe3 w lAr p^lf
And bf at la/f a^/cmtina/ krrt^ mt/Juf
SATIRIC.VL PLAYING-CARD.
Temp. War of the Spanish Succession.
British Museum.
IX
THE REVOLUTION
^537
divided Germany and held the House of Austria in check. The
Bavarian Elector indeed, who had charge of the Spanish Nether-
lands and on whom William had counted, openly joined the
French side from the first and proclaimed the Duke of Anjou
as King in Brussels. In England the new Parliament was
crowded with Tories who were resolute against war. The
Tory Ministry pressed him to acknowledge the new King of
Spain ; and as even Holland did this William was forced
to submit. He could
only count on the
greed of Lewis to help
him, and he did not
count in vain. The
approval of the French
King's action had
sprung from the belief
that he intended to
leave Spain to the
Spaniards under their
new King. Bitter too
as the strife of Whig
and Tory might be
in England, there were
two things on which
Whig and Tory were
agreed. Neither would
suffer France to oc-
cupy the Netherlands.
Neither would endure
a French attack on
the Protestant succession which the Revolution of 1688
had established. But the arrogance of Lewis blinded him
to the need of moderation in his hour of good-luck. In
the name of his grand.son he introduced P'rcnch troops into
the seven fortresses known as the Dutch barrier, and into
Ostend and the coast towns of Flanders. Kvcn the Peace-
Parliament at once acquiesced in W^illiam's demand for their
withdrawal, and authorized him to conchide a clcfcnsi\c
JOHN DRYDEN, DIED 1700.
Picture by Sir G. Kncller.
Sec. IX
Marl-
borough
1698
TO
I7I2
Eui^laud
iiini the
1538 HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE chap.
Sec. IX alliance with Holland. The King'.s policy indeed was bitterl)-
Marl- blamed, while the late ministers, Somers, Russell, and Montague
BOROUGH _
1698 (now become peers), were impeached for their share in the treaties.
1712 But outside the House of Commons the tide of national feeling
rose as the designs of Lewis grew clearer. He refused to allow the
Dutch barrier to be re-established ; and a great French fleet
gathered in the Channel to support, it was believed, a fresh Jacobite
descent, which was proposed by the ministers of James in a letter
intercepted and laid before Parliament. Even the House of
Commons took fire at this, and the fleet was raised to thirt}-
thousand men, the army to ten thousand. Kent sent up a remon-
strance against the factious measures b}- which the Tories still
struggled against the King's policy, with a prayer that addresses
might be turned into Bills of Supply; and William was encouraged
b\- these signs of a change of temper to despatch an English force
to Holland, and to conclude a secret treaty with the United
Provinces for the recovery of the Netherlands from Lewis, and for
their transfer with the Milanese to the house of Austria as a means
of counter-balancing the new power added to France. But
Death of England was still clinging desperately to a hope of peace, when
J (X 711 CS
Lewis b\' a sudden act forced it into war. He had acknowledged
Sepf. 1701 William as King in the Peace of R}-swick, and pledged himself to
oppose all attacks on his throne. He now entered the bed-
chamber at St. Germain where James was breathing his last, and
promised to acknowledge his son at his death as King of England,
Scotland, and Ireland. The promise was in fact a declaration of
war, and in a moment all England was at one in accepting the
challenge. The issue Lewis had raised was no longer a matter of
European politics, but the question whether the work of the Revo-
lution should be undone, and whether Catholicism and despotism
should be replaced on the throne of England by the arms of France.
On such a question as this there was no difference between Tory
and \\ hig. When the death, in 1700, of the last child of the
, , . Princess Anne had been followed by a new Act of Succession, rot
Ad of ^ •' ^
Setii'c- a voice had been raised for James or his son ; and the descendants
of the daughter of Charles the First, Henrietta of Orleans, whose
onl}- child had married the Catholic Duke of Savo}', were passed
over in the same silence. The Parliament fell back on the line of
Die lit
1701
IX
THE REVOLUTION
1539
James the First. His daughter Elizabeth had married the Elector
Palatine, and her onl\- surviving child, Sophia, was the wife of the
late and the mother of the present Elector of Hanover. It was in
Sophia and her heirs, being Protestants, that the Act of Settlement
vested the Crown. It was enacted that every English sovereign
must be in communion with the Church of England as by law
established. All future kings were forbidden to leave England
without consent of Parliament, and foreigners were excluded from
all public posts. The independence of justice was established by
a clause which provided that no judge should be removed from
office save on an address
from Parliament to the
Crown. The two prin-
ciples that the King
acts only through his
ministers, and that these
ministers are responsible
to Parliament, were as-
serted by a requirement
that all public business
should be formall\- done
in the Privy Council, and
all its decisions signed
b\' its members — provi-
sions which went far to
complete the parliamen-
tary Constitution which
had been drawn up by
the \V\]\ of Rights. The national union which had already been
shown in this action of the Tory Parliament, now showed itself
in the King's welcome on his return from the Hague, where the
conclusion of a new Grand Alliance between the Empire, Hol-
land, and the United Provinces, had rewarded William's patience
and skill. The Alliance was .soon joined by Denmark, Sweden,
the Palatinate, and the bulk of the German States. The Parlia-
ment of 1702, though still Tory in the main, replied to William's
stirring appeal b)- voting forty thousand soldiers and as many
sailors for the coming struggle. A Bill of Attaiiuler was passed
Vol. IV— I'AKT 33 5 ^'
THE ELECTRKSS SOPHIA.
Reverse of a medal struck to commemorate the Act of
Succession, 1701.
Sec. IX
1\Iarl-
BOROUGH
1698
TO
I7I2
154°
HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE
CHAP.
Sec. IX
Marl-
borough
1698
TO
I7I2
Marl-
borough
against the new Pretender ; and all members of cither House
and all public officials were sworn to uphold the succession of the
House of Hanover.
But the King's weakness was already too great to allow of his
taking the field ; and he was forced to entrust the war in the
Netherlands to the one
Englishman who had shown
himself capable of a great
command. John Churchill,
Earl of Marlborough, was
born in 1650, the son of a
Devonshire Cavalier, whose
daughter became at the
Restoration mistress of the
Duke of York. The shame
of Arabella did more per-
haps than her father's
loyalt}^ to win for her
brother a commission in
the royal Guards ; and, after
five years' service abroad
under Turcnne, the young
captain became colonel of
an English regiment which
was retained in the service
of France. He had already
shown some of the qualities
of a great soldier, an un-
ruffled courage, a bold and
\'enturous temper held in
check by a cool and serene
judgement, a vigilance and
capacity for enduring fatigue
which never forsook him.
In later years he was known to spend a whole day in reconnoitring,
and at Blenheim he remained on horseback for fifteen hours. But
courage and skill in arms did less for Churchill on his return to
the English court than his personal beauty. In the French camp
M. DE 3IARLE BOROUGH,
From an engraving after I'an tier Mculcn.
IX THE REVOLUTION
1541
he had been known as "the handsome EngHshman;" and his sec. ix
manners were as winning as his person. Even in age his address marl-
was ahnost irresistible : " he engrossed the graces," says Chester- 169S
field ; and his air never lost the careless sweetness which won the 171 2
favour of Lady Castlemaine. A present of ^^"5,000 from the
King's mistress laid the foundation of a fortune which grew
rapidl}' to greatness, as the prudent forethought of the handsome
young soldier hardened into the avarice of age. But it was to the Churchill
Duke of York that Churchill looked mainly for adv^ancement, and jamcs
he earned it by the fidelity with which as a member of his
household he clung to the Duke's fortunes during the dark days
of the Popish Plot. He followed James to the Hague and to
Edinburgh, and on his master's return he was rewarded with a
peerage and the colonelcy of the Life Guards. The service he
rendered James after his accession by saving the ro}-al army from
a surprise at Sedge'moor would have been }'et more splendidly
acknowledged but for the King's bigotry. In spite of his master's
personal solicitations Churchill remained true to Protestantism ;
but he knew James too well to count on further favour. Luckily
he had now found a new groundwork for his fortunes in the
growing influence of his wife over the King's second daughter,
Anne ; and at the crisis of the Revolution the adhesion of Anne to
the cause of Protestantism was of the highest value. No sentiment
of gratitude to his older patron hindered Marlborough from
corresponding with the Prince of Orange, from promising Anne's
sympath)^ to William's effort, or from deserting the ranks of the
King's army when it faced William in the field. His desertion Churchill
proved fatal to the royal cause ; but great as this service was it William
was eclipsed by a second. It was by his wife's persuasion that
Anne was induced to forsake her father and take refuge in
Danby's camp. Unscrupulous as his conduct had been, the
services which he rendered to William were too great to miss
their reward. He became l^'arl of Marlborough ; he was put at
the head of a force during the Irish war where his I'apid successes
won William's regard ; and he was given high commantl in the
army of Elanders. Put the sense of his power over Anne soon
turned Marlborough from ])lotting treason against James to ])lot
treason against Wilh'am. fireat as was bis greed of gold, he had
5 c 2
154-
H IS TORY OF THE ENCiLISH PEOPLE
CHAP.
Sec. IX married Sarah Jenniiii;s, a penniless beaut\- of Charles's court, in
Marl- whoin a violcnt and malisjnant tcm]:)er was strancjcly combined
i(OROi't;n ^ o y
1698 with a i^ower of winnin;^ and retaining; love. Churchill's affection
1 71 2 for her ran like a thread of gold through the dark web of his
career. In the midst of his marches and from the very battle-field
JOHN CIIURCHII.L, DUKK OF .MAKLBOKOUGH.
Picture by J. Closteriitan, in National Portrait Gallery.
he writes to his wife with the same passionate tenderness. The
composure which no danger or hatred could ruffle broke down into
ahnost womanish depression at the thought of her coldness or at
any burst of her violent humour. He never left lier without a
pang. " I did for a great while with a perspective glass look upon
IX
THE REVOLUTION
1543
the cliffs," he once wrote to her after setting out on a campaign, Six. ix
"in hopes that I might have had one sight of you." It was no ^i^ri.-
o y BOROUGH
wonder that the woman who inspired Marlborough with a lov^e like 169S
this bound to her the weak and feeble nature of the Princess 1712
Anne. The two friends threw off the restraints of state, and
SARAH, DUCHKSS OF MAKI.I; H: ■ .M , ii .
Picture I'y Si'f Cotifrey Knclh-r, in A'ational Portrait Gallery.
addressed each other as "Mrs. I-'reeman " and "Mrs. Morlc\-."
It was on his wife's innuence o\-cr her friend that the l^arl's
ambition counted in its designs against W'illiain. Mis plan was
to drive the King from the throne by backing the 'Ic^rics in their
opposition to the war as well as by stirring to frcn/y the Knglish
1544
HisruKv ui- THE English people
CHAP.
Mari.-
bouoi(;h
169S
I'O
I7I2
Sec. IX hatred of forciijncrs, and to scat y\nnc in his place. The discovery
of his designs roused the King to a burst of unusual resentment.
" Were I and my Lord Marlborough private persons," William
exclaimed, " the sword would ha\e to settle between us." As it
was, he could onl\- strip the l^^arl of his offices and command, and
drive his wife from St. James's. Anne followed her favourite,
and the court of the Princess became the centre of the Tory
opposition ; while Marlborough opened a correspondence with
James. So notorious v/as his treason that on the eve of the
MEMORIAL f)F WILLIAM III.
Unique gold »tcdj.i in Britiili Musenin.
Marl-
borough
and the
Grand
Alliance
French in\-asion of 1692 he was one of the first of the suspected
persons sent to the Tower.
The death of Mary forced William to recall Anne, who became
b\' this event his successor ; and with Anne the Marlboroughs
returned to court. The King could not bend himself to trust the
P2arl again ; but as death drew near he saw in him the one man
whose splendid talents fitted him, in spite of the baseness and
treason of his life, to rule luigland and direct the Grand Alliance
in his stead. He employed Marlborough therefore to negotiate
the treaty of alliance with the Emperor, and put him at the head
of the army in P^landers. But the Earl had only just taken the
IX THE REVOLUTION 1545
command when a fall from his horse proved fatal to the broken Sec. ix
frame of the Kinsr. " There was a time when I should have been Marl-
BOROUGH
glad to have been delivered out of my troubles," the dying man 1698
whispered to Portland, " but I own I see another scene, and could 1712
wish to live a little longer." He knew, however, that the wish was Death of
vain, and commended Marlborough to Anne as the fittest person ,, ' '"'"
'^ ^ Mar. 1702
to lead her armies and guide her counsels. Anne's zeal needed no
quickening. Three days after her accession the Earl was named
Captain-General of the English forces at home and abroad, and
entrusted with the entire direction of the war. His supremacy
over home affairs was secured by the construction of a purely
Tory administration with Lord Godolphin, a close friend of
Marlborough's, as Lord Treasurer at its head. The Queen's
affection for his wife ensured him the support of the Crown at a
moment when Anne's personal popularity gave the Crown a new
weight with the nation. In England, indeed, party feeling for the
moment died away. All save the extreme Tories were won over
to the war now that it was waged on behalf of a Tory queen by a
Tory general, while the most extreme of the Whigs were ready to
back even a Tory general in waging a Whig war. Abroad,
however, William's death shook the Alliance to its base ; and even
Holland wavered in dread of being deserted by England in the
coming struggle. But the decision of Marlborough soon did away
with this distrust. Anne was made to declare from the throne
her resolve to pursue with energy the policy of her predecessor.
The Parliament was brought to sanction vigorous measures for the
prosecution of the war. The new general hastened to the Hague,
received the command of the Dutch as well as of the English
forces, and drew the German powers into the Confederacy with
a skill and adroitness which even William might ha\e envied.
Never was greatness more quickly recognized than in the case of
Marlborough. In a few months he was regarded by all as the
guiding spirit of the Alliance, and princes whose jealousy had
worn out the patience of the King yielded without a struggle to
the counsels of his successor. His temper fittctl him in an especial
way to be the head of a great confederac}-. Like William, he
owed little of his power to any early training. The trace of his
neglected education was seen to the la^l in his reluctance to write.
1546 HISTORY OF THE EX(;i,ISH TKOPLE
171:
Sec. IX "Of all things," he said to his wife, "■ I do not love writing." To
Marl- pen a despatch indeed was a far greater trouble to him than to
BOROl'GH
1698 plan a campaign. But nature had given him qualities which in
other men spring specialK' from culture. His capacity for business
was immense. During the next ten years he assumed the general
direction of the war in Inlanders and in Spain. He managed
ever\' negotiation with the courts of the allies. He watched over
the shifting phases of English politics. He crossed the Channel to
win over Anne to a change in the Cabinet, or hurried to Berlin to
secure the due contingent of Electoral troops from Brandenburg.
At one and the same moment men saw him reconciling the
Emperor with the Protestants of Hungary, stirring the Calvinists
of the Cevcnnes into revolt, arranging the affairs of Portugal, and
providing for the protection of the Duke of Savoy. But his air
showed no trace of fatigue or haste or vexation. He retained to
the last the indolent grace of his youth. His natural dignity was
never ruffled by an outbreak of temper. Amidst the storm of
battle his soldiers saw their leader "without fear of danger or in
the least hurr\-, giving his orders with all the calmness imaginable."
In the cabinet he was as cool as on the battle-field. He met with
the same equable serenity the pettiness of the German princes, the
phlegm of the Dutch, the ignorant opposition of his officers, the
libels of his political opponents. There was a touch of irony in
the simple expedients by which he sometimes solved problems
which had baffled Cabinets. The touchy pride of the King of
Prussia made him one of the most vexatious among the allies, but
all difficult)' with him ceased when Marlborough rose at a state
banquet and handed him a napkin. Churchill's composure rested
partly indeed on a pride which could not stoop to bare the real
self within to the eyes of meaner men. In the bitter moments
before his fall he bade Godolphin burn some querulous letters
which the persecution of his opponents had wrung from him.
" My desire is that the world may continue in their error of
thinking me a happy man, for I think it better to be envied than
pitied." But in great measure it sprang from the purely
intellectual temper of his mind. His passion for his wife was
the one sentiment which tinged the colourless light in which his
understanding moved. In all else he was without love or hate, he
THE REVOLUTION
1547
knew neither doubt nor regret. In private life he was a humane
and compassionate man ; but if his position required it he could
betray Englishmen to death, or lead his arm}- to a butchery such
as that of IMalplaquet. Of honour or the finer sentiments of
mankind he knew nothing ; and he turned without a shock from
guiding Europe and winning great victories to heap up a matchless
fortune by peculation and greed. He is perhaps the only instance
of a man of real greatness
who loved monc)' for
monc}''s sake. The pas-
sions which stirred the
men around him, whether
noble or ignoble, were to
him simply elements in
an intellectual problem
which had to be solve'd
b}' patience. " Patience
will overcome all things,"
he writes again and again.
"As I think most things
are governed b\- destin}-,
having done all things
we should submit A\ith
patience."
As a statesman the high
qualities of Marlborough
were owned b\- his bitterest
foes. " Over the Confedcr-
ac}'," saj's Bolingbrokc,
" he, a new, a private man,
acquired b\- merit antl
management a more decided influence than high birth, confirmed
authority, and even the crown of Great Britain, had given to King
William." But great as he was in the council, he was even greater
in the field. He stands alone amongst the masters of the: art of war
as a captain whose victories began at an age when the work of most
men is done. Though he served as a \-oung officer under Turenne
and f(^r a few months in Ireland and tin- XctlKiiands, in- li.id lu'ld
Sec. IX
Mari.-
boroigii
I69S
TO
I7I2
.^
'TtUniom^ oryer cuyo&i.
Marl-
borough
and the
War
SATIRICAL ?LAVING-CAK1>
Temp. Marlborough.
British Museuiit.
154^
Sec. IX
Marl-
borough
1698
TO
I7I2
HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE
CHAP.
no great command till he took the field in Flanders at the age of
fifty-two. He stands alone, too, in his unbroken good fortune.
Voltaire notes that he never besieged a fortress which he did not take.
rilli ULKE OF MARLBORuUGII s UL,\.\I.\G FOOTMEN.
Tapestry at BUnheiiu Paiace, representing i/ie Battle of Blenheim.
or fought a battle which he did not win. His difficulties came not
so much from the enemy, as from the ignorance and timidity of his
own allies. He was never defeated in the field, but victory after
victory was snatched from him b\- the incapacit)- of his officers or
IK
THE REVOLUTION
1549
the stubbornness of the Dutch. What startled the cautious Sec. ix
strategists of his dav was the vicrour and audacitv of his plans. Marl-
^ ^ O > J. BOROIGH
Old as he was, IMarlborough's designs had from the first all the 1698
dash and boldness of youth. On taking the field in 1702 he at
once resolved to force a battle in the heart of Brabant. The plan ope
was foiled by the timidity of the Dutch deputies. But his resolute
TO
I7I2
leniui^
of the
var
EUGENE AND MARLBOROUGH RECONNOITRING.
From an engraving by Cavisvclt.
advance across the Meuse drew the French forces from that river,
and enabled him to reduce fortress after fortress in a scries of
sieges, till the surrender of Liege closed a campaign which cut
off the I-"rcnch from the Lower Rhine, and frccil Holland from
all danger of an invasion. The successes of Marlborough
had been brought into bolder relief by the fortunes of the war
in other quarters. Though the Imijcrialist general, I'rinci: Eugene
'"""'filllll'lllllllillllllllllll''
PflM
|l|iiiFiil|!ii'l''ipl:il'lil!in"|HI'il!|ill!ilill|ii|i|inillll'i!lli!:-'^"'"""
X I
3 ^
CHAP. IX THE REVOLUTION ,55,
of Savoy, showed his powers by a surprise of the fVench <kc ix
army at Cremona, no real successes had been won in Italw Makl-
A T^ I- 1 1 1 ,- ■ i ' BOROUGH
An iLnghsh descent on the Spanish coast ended m faikn-e. In 1698
Germany the Bavarians joined the French, and the united armies ly',^
defeated the forces of the Empire. It was in this quarter that
Lewis resoh-ed to push his fortunes. In the spring of 1703 a fresh
army under Marshal \'illars again relieved the Bavarian Elector
from the pressure of the Imperial forces, and only a strife which
arose between the two commanders hindered the joint armies from
marching on Vienna. Meanwhile the timidity of the Dutch
deputies served Lewis well in the Low Countries. The hopes
of Marlborough, who had been raised to a Dukedom for his
services in the previous year, were again foiled by the deputies of
the States-General. Serene as his temper was, it broke down
before their refusal to co-operate in an attack on Antwerp
and French Flanders ; and the prayers of Godolphin and of the
pensionary Heinsius alone induced him to withdraw his offer of
resignation. But in spite of his victories on the Danube, of
the blunders of his adversaries on the Rhine, and the sudden aid of
an insurrection which broke out in Hungary, the difficulties of
Lewis were hourly increasing. The accession of Savoy to the
Grand Alliance threatened his armies in Ital\- with destruction.
That of Portugal gave the allies a base of operations against Spain.
The French King's energy however rose with the pressure ; and
while the Duke of Berwick, a natural son of James the Second, was
despatched against Portugal, and three small armies closed round
Savoy, the flower of the F"rench troops joined the army of Bavaria
on the Danube ; for the bold plan of Lewis was to decide the
fortunes of the war by a victory which would wrest peace from the
Empire under the walls of Vienna.
The master-stroke of Lewis roused Marlborough at the opening Blenheim
of 1704 to a master-stroke in return ; but the .secrecy and boldness
of the Duke's i)lans deceived both his enemies and his allies. The
I""rench army in J""ianders saw in his march upon Mainl/. (uiK
a design to transfer the war into JCIsass. The Dutch were lured
into suffering their troops to be drawn as far from Manders as
Coblentz by propcjals f(;r an imaginarx' campaign on the Moselle.
It was on!)' when IMarlborougli cicjssed the Xeckar and struck
CHAP. IX THE REVOLUTION 155^
through the centre of Germany for the Danube that the true aim Sec. ix
of his operations was revealed. After strucrCTlincr through the hill Marl-
i^ &t> t> O BOROUGH
country of Wurtemberg, he joined the Imperial army under the 1698
TO
Prince of Baden, stormed the heights of Donauwerth, crossed the 1712
Danube and the Lech, and penetrated into the heart of Bavaria.
The crisis drew the two armies which were facing one another on
the Upper Rhine to the scene. The arrival of Marshal Tallard
with thirty thousand French troops saved the Elector of Bavaria
for the moment from the need of submission ; but the junction of
his opponent, Prince Eugene, with Marlborough raised the con-
tending forces again to an equality. After a few marches the
armies met on the north bank of the Danube, near the little town of
Hochstadt and the village of Blindheim or Blenheim, which have
given their names to one of the most memorable battles in the
history of the world. In one respect the struggle which followed
stands almost unrivalled, for the whole of the Teutonic race was
represented in the strange medley of Englishmen, Dutchmen,
Hanoverians, Danes, Wiirtembergcrs, and Austrians who followed
Marlborough and Eugene. The French and Bavarians, who
numbered like their opponents some fifty thousand men, lay behind
a little stream which ran through swampy ground to the Danube.
Their position was a strong one, for its front was covered by the
swamp, its right by the Danube, its left by the hill-country in
which the stream rose ; and Tallard had not only entrenched
himself, but was far superior to his rival in artillery. But for once
Marlborough's hands were free. " I have great reason," he wrote
calmly home, "to hope that everything will go well, for I have the
pleasure to find all the officers willing to obey without knowing
any other reason than that it is my desire, which is very different
from what it was in Inlanders, where I was obliged to have the
consent of a council of war for cver}-thing I undertook." So
formidable were the obstacles, howev^er, that though the allies were
in motion at sunrise, it was not till midday that luigene, who
commanded on the right, succeeded in crossing tiie stream. The
English foot at once forded it on the left and attacked the \illagc -linr. 13,
of Blindheim in which the bulk of the French infantr}' were ''""^
entrenched ; but after a furious struggle the attack was rc[)ulse(l,
while as gallant a resistance at the (jther end of the line held
" MAI.BOKOUK."
Illustration, Early Nineteenth Century, to French song (broadside), Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris.
CHAP. IX THE REVOLUTION 1555
Eugene in check. The centre, however, which the French beheved Sec. ix
to be unassailable, had been chosen by Marlborough for the chief Marl-
' BOROUGH
point of attack ; and by making an artificial road across the morass 1698
he was at last enabled to throw his eight thousand horsemen on 1712
the French cavalry which occupied this position. Two desperate
charges which the Duke headed in person decided the day. The
French centre was flung back on the Danube and forced to surrender.
Their left fell back in confusion on Hochstadt : while their right,
cooped up in Blindheim and cut off from retreat, became prisoners
of war. Of the defeated army only twenty thousand escaped.
Twelve thousand were slain, fourteen thousand were captured.
Germany was finally freed from the French ; and Marlborough,
who followed the wreck of the French host in its flight to Elsass,
soon made himself master of the Lower Moselle. But the loss of
France could not be measured by men or fortresses. A hundred
victories since Rocrbi had taught the world to regard the
French army as invincible, when Blenheim and the surrender of
the flower of the French soldiery broke the spell. From that
moment the terror of victory passed to the side of the allies, and
" Malbrook " became a name of fear to every child in France.
In England itself the victory of Blenheim aided to bring about Ramillies
a great change in the political aspect of affairs. The Tories were
resolved to create a permanent Tory majority in the Commons by
excluding Nonconformists from the municipal corporations, which
returned the bulk of the borough members. The Protestant
Dissenters, while adhering to their separate congregations, in which
they were now protected by the Toleration Act, " qualified for
office" by the " occasional conformity" of receiving the sacrament
at Church once in the year. It was against this " occasional Occasional
conformity " that the Tories introduced a test to exclude the '^^"J°^^"-
Nonconformists ; and this test at first received Marlborough's
support. But it was steadily rejected by the Lords as often as it
was sent up to them, and it was soon guessed that their resistance
was secretly backed by both Marlborough and G()doli)hin. Tory
as he was, in fact, Marlborough had no mind for an unchecked
Tory rule, or for a revival of religious strife which would be fatal
to the war. Ikit he strove in vain to propitiate his party by
inducing the Oueen to .set aside the tenths and first-fruits hitherto
Vol. IV— I'akt 34 5 •!
,556 HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH TEOPLE chap.
sfx. IX paid by the clergy to the Crown as a fund for the augmentation of
Marl- Small bcneficcs, a fund which still bears the name of Queen Anne's
BOROIOH '^
1698 Bounty. The Commons showed their resentment by refusmg to
1 7 12 add a grant of money to the grant of a Dukedom after his
first campaign ; and the higher Tories, with Lord Nottingham
at their head, began to throw every obstacle they could in the way
of the continuance of the war. At last they quitted office in 1704,
and Marlborough replaced them by Tories of a more moderate
stamp who were still in favour of the war : by Robert Harley, who
became Secretary of State, and Henry St. John, a man of splendid
talents, who was named Secretary at War. The Duke's march
into Germany, which pledged England to a struggle in the heart
of the Continent, embittered the political strife. The high Tories
and Jacobites threatened, if Marlborough failed, to bring his head
to the block, and only the victory of Blenheim saved him from
political ruin. Slowly and against his will the Duke drifted from
his own party to the party which really backed his policy. He
availed himself of the national triumph over Blenheim to dissolve
Parliament ; and when the election of 1705, as he hoped, returned
a majority in favour of the war, his efforts brought about a
The coalition between the moderate Tories who still clung to him and
^mliistrv ^^^ Whig Junto, whose support was purchased by making a Whig,
William Cowper, Lord Keeper, and by sending Lord Sunderland
as envoy to Vienna. The bitter attacks of the peace party were
entirely foiled by this union, and Marlborough at last felt secure at
home. But he had to bear disappointment abroad. His plan of
attack along the line of the Moselle was defeated by the refusal of
the Imperial army to join him. When he entered the French
lines across the Dyle, the Dutch generals withdrew their troops ;
and his proposal to attack the Duke of Villeroy in the field of
Waterloo was rejected in full council of war by the deputies of
the States with cries of "murder" and "massacre." Even Marl-
borough's composure broke into bitterness at the blow. " Had I
had the same power I had last year," he wrote home, " I could
have won a greater victory than that of Blenheim." On his
complaint the States recalled their commissaries, but the year was
lost ; nor had greater results been brought about in Italy or on
the Rhine. The spirits of the allies were only sustained by the
IX
THE REVOLUTION
^30/
romantic exploits of Lord Peterborough in Spain. Profligate,
unprincipled, flighty as he was, Peterborough had a genius for war,
and his seizure of Barcelona with a handful of men, his recognition
of the old liberties of Aragon, roused that province to support the
cause of the second son of the Emperor, who had been acknow-
Sec. IX
Marl-
borough
1698
TO
I7I2
CHARLES MORDAUNT, EARL uK PETERBOROUGH.
From a mezzotint by J. Simon of a picture by M. Dahl.
ledgcd as King of Spain by the allies under the title of Charles the
Third. Catalonia and Valencia soon joined Aragon in declaring
for Charles: while Marlborough spent the winter of 1705 in
negotiations at Vienna, licrlin, Hanover, and tlu' Jlague, and in
preparations f(jr the ctjuiing campaign. I'lagcr for frc-ctloin of
5 II 2
;5S
HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE
CHAP.
Sec. IX
Marl-
borough
1698
TO
I7I2
action, and sick of the Imperial generals as of the Dutch, he
planned a march over the Alps and a campaign in Italy ; and
though his designs were defeated by the opposition of the allies, he
found himself unfettered when he again appeared in Flanders in
1706. The French marshal Villeroy w^as as eager as Marlborough
for an engagement ; and the two armies met on the 23rd of May at
the village of Ramillics on the undulating plain which forms the
highest ground in Brabant. The French were drawn up in a wide
curve with morasses covering their front. After a feint on their left,
Marlborough flung himself on their right wing at Ramillics, crushed
it in a brilliant charge that he led in person, and swept along their
MEDAL TO COMMEMORATE BATTLE OF RAMILLIES.
The
Union
with
Scotland
whole line till it broke in a rout which only ended beneath the
walls of Louvain. In an hour and a half the French had lost
fifteen thousand men, their baggage, and their guns ; and the line
of the Scheldt, Brussels, Antwerp and Bruges became the prize of
the victors. It only needed four successful sieges which followed
the battle of Ramillics to complete the deliverance of Flanders.
The year which witnessed the victory of Ramillics remains yet
more memorable as the year which witnessed the final Union of
England with Scotland. As the undoing of the earlier union had
been the first work of the Government of the Restoration, its
revival was one of the first aims of the Government which followed
IX THE REVOLUTION 1559
the Revolution. But the project was long held in check by sec. ix
relia^ious and commercial jealousies. Scotland refused to bear any marl-
^ •> •' BOROUGH
part of the English debt. England would not yield any share in 1698
TO
her monopoly of trade with the colonies. The English Churchmen 1712
longed for a restoration of Episcopacy north of the border, while
the Scotch Presbyterians would not hear even of the legal tolera-
tion of Episcopalians. In 1703, however, an Act of Settlement
which passed through the Scotch Parliament at last brought home
to English statesmen the dangers of further delay. In dealing
with this measure the Scotch Whigs, who cared only for the
independence of their country, joined hand in hand with the Scotch
Jacobites, who looked only to the interests of the Pretender. The
Jacobites excluded from the Act the name of the Princess Sophia ;
the Whigs introduced a provision that no sovereign of England
should be recognized as sovereign of Scotland save upon security
given to the religion, freedom, and trade of the Scottish people.
Great as the danger arising from such a measure undoubtedly was,
for it pointed to a recognition of the Pretender in Scotland on the
Queen's death, and such a recognition meant war between
Scotland and England, it was only after three years' delay that the
wisdom and resolution of Lord Somers brought the question to an 1706
issue. The Scotch proposals of a federative rather than a legisla-
tiv^e union were set aside by his firmness ; the commercial jealousies
of the English trader were put by ; and the Act of Union provided
that the two kingdoms should be united into one under the name
of Great Britain, and that the succession to the crown of this
United Kingdom should be ruled b}' the provisions of the English
Act of Settlement. The Scotch Church and the Scotch law were
left untouched : but all rights of trade were thrown open, and a
uniform system of coinage adopted. A single Parliament was
henceforth to represent the United Kingdom, and for this purpose
forty-five Scotch members were added to the five hundred and
thirteen English members of the House of Commons, and sixteen
representative peers to the one hundred and eight who formed the
English House of Lords. In Scf;tland the opposition was bitter
and almost universal. The terror of the Presbyterians indeed \vas
met by an Act of Security which became part of the Treat)' of
Union and which required an oath to support the Presbyterian
i;6o
HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE
CHAP.
Sec. IX
Makl-
BOROUGH
1698
TO
I7I2
Church from every sovereign on his accession. But no securities
could satisfy the enthusiastic patriots or the fanatical Camcronians.
The Jacobites sought troops from France and plotted a Stuart
SECOND GREAT SEAL OF ANNE, 1707, < , m mfMuRATING THE UNION WITH
SCOTLAND.
(Obverse.)
restoration. The nationalists talked of seceding from the Houses
which voted for the Union, and of establishing a rival Parliament.
In the end, however, good sense and the loyalty of the trading
classes to the cause of the Protestant succession won their way.
IX
THE REVOLUTION
1561
The measure was adopted by the Scotch ParHament, and the sec. ix
Treaty of Union became in 1707 a legislative act to which Anne inu^l-
gave her assent in noble words. " I desire," said the Queen, " and
TO
I7I2
Its results
SECOND GREAT SEAL OF ANNK, 1 707, ' 1
SCOILANU.
(Reverse.)
\ [ I \C. THE UNION WITH
expect from my subjects of both nations that from henceforth they
act with all possible respect and kindness to one another, that so it
may appear to all the world they have hearts disposed t(^ become
one people." Time lias more than answered these hopes. TJie
156:
HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE
CHAP.
Sec. IX
Marl-
borough
1698
TO
I7I2
Marl-
borough
and the
Whigs
1706
1706
two nations whom the Union brought together have ever since
remained one, England gained in the removal of a constant
danger of treason and war. To Scotland the Union opened up
new avenues of wealth which the energy of its people turned to
wonderful account. The farms of Lothian have become models of
agricultural skill. A fishing town on the Clyde has grown into
the rich and populous Glasgow. Peace and culture have changed
the wild clansmen of the Highlands into herdsmen and farmers.
Nor was the change followed by any loss of national spirit. The
world has hardly seen a mightier and more rapid developement of
national energy than that of Scotland after the Union. All that
passed away was the jealousy which had parted since the days
of Edward the First two peoples whom a common blood and com-
mon speech proclaimed to be one. The Union between Scotland and
England has been real and stable simply because it was the
legislative acknowledgement and enforcement of a national fact.
With the defeat of Ramillies the fortunes of France reached
their lowest ebb. The loss of Flanders was followed by the loss of
Italy after a victory by which Eugene relieved Turin ; and not
only did Peterborough hold his ground in Spain, but Charles the
Third with an army of English and Portuguese entered Madrid.
Marlborough was at the height of his renown. Ramillies gave him
strength enough to force Anne, in spite of her hatred of the Whigs,
to fulfil his compact with them by admitting Lord Sunderland, the
bitterest leader of their party, to office. But the system of political
balance which he had maintained till now began at once to break
down. Constitutionally, Marlborough's was the last attempt to
govern England on other terms than those of party government,
and the union of parties to which he had clung ever since his
severance from the extreme Tories soon became impossible. The
growing opposition of the Tories to the war threw the Duke
more and more on the support of the Whigs, and the Whigs sold
their support dearly. Sunderland, who had inherited his father's
conceptions of party government, was resolved to restore a strict
party administration on a purely Whig basis, and to drive the
moderate Tories from office in spite of Marlborough's desire to
retain them. The Duke wrote hotly home at the news of the pres-
sure which the Whigs were putting on him. " England," he said,
JUSKTH ADDISON.
Picture by Sir Godfrey Kneller.
opponents, though it roused the Duke to a burst of unusual passion
in Parliament, effected its end by convincing him of the impos-
sibility of further resistance. The opposition of the Queen indeed
was stubborn and bitter. Anne was at heart a Tor)-, antl her okl
trust in Marlborough died with his submission to the Whig demands.
It was only by the threat of resignation that he had forced her
to admit Sunderland to office ; and the violent outbreak of temper
with which the Duchess enforced her husband's will changed the
Queen's friendship for her into a bitter resentment. Marlborough
was driven to increase this resentment by fresh compliances with
IX THE REVOLUTION 1563
" will not be ruined because a few men are not pleased." Nor was Sec. ix
Marlborough alone in his resentment. Harley foresaw the danoer Marl-
BOROUGH
of his expulsion from office, and began to intrigue at court, through 1698
Mrs. Masham, a bedchamber woman of the Queen, who was 1712
supplanting the Duchess in Anne's favour, against the Whigs and
against Marlborough. St. John, who owed his early promotion to
office to the Duke's favour, was driven by the same fear to share
Harley's schemes. Marlborough strove to win both of them back,
but he was helpless in the hands of the only party that steadily
supported the war. A factious union of the Whigs with their
ENGLISH SQUADRON CARRVING TROOPS TO TAKE POSSESSION OF DUNKIRK.
^'History c/ Queen Anne," 1740.
CHAP. IX THE REVOLUTION 1565
the conditions which the Whigs imposed on him, by removing sec. ix
Peterborough from his command as a Tory general, and by wrest- Marl-
° J ^ ^ J BOUOIGH
ing from Anne her consent to the dismissal from office of Harley 1698
and St. John with the moderate Tories whom they headed. Their 1712
removal was followed by the complete triumph of the Whigs. Triumph
Somers became President of the Council, Wharton Lord-Lieu- wl/^s
tenant of Ireland, while lower posts were occupied by men destined 1708
to play a great part in our later history, such as the young Duke of
Newcastle and Robert Walpole. Meanwhile, the great struggle
abroad went on, with striking alternations of success. France rose
with singular rapidity from the crushing blow of Ramillies. Spain
was recovered for Philip by a victory of Marshal Berwick at
Almanza. Villars won fresh triumphs on the Rhine, while Eugene, 1707
who had penetrated into Provence, was driven back into Italy. In
Flanders, Marlborough's designs for taking advantage of his great
victory were foiled by the strategy of the Duke of Vendome and
by the reluctance of the Dutch, who were now wavering towards
peace. In the campaign of 1708, however, Vendome, in spite of his
superiority in force, was attacked and defeated at Oudenarde ; and Oude-
though Marlborough was hindered from striking at the heart of ""^ ^
France by the timidity of the English and Dutch statesmen, he
reduced Lille, the strongest of its frontier fortresses, in the face of
an army of relief which numbered a hundred thousand men. The
pride of Lewis was at last broken by defeat and by the terrible
suffering of France. He offered terms of peace which yielded all
that the allies had fought for. He consented to withdraw his aid
from Philip of Spain, to give up ten P^lemish fortresses to the
Dutch, and to surrender to the Empire all that France had gained
since the Treaty of Westphalia. He offered to acknowledge Anne,
to banish the Pretender from his dominions, and to demolish the
fortifications of Dunkirk, a port hateful to England as the home of
the French privateers.
To Marlborough peace now seemed secure ; but in spite of his England
counsels, the allies and the Whig Ministers in England demanded war
that Lewis should with his own troops compel his grandson to give
up the crown of Spain. " If I must wage war," replied the King,
" I had rather wage it against my enemies than against my
children." In a bitter despair he appealed to I''rancc ; and
liATTI.E OF MALPLAQUET.
'■^History cf Queen Anne," 1740.
CHAP. IX
THE REVOLUTION
1567
exhausted as it was, the campaign of 1709 proved how nobly
France answered his appeal. The terrible slaughter which bears the
name of the battle of Malplaquet showed a new temper in the
French soldiers. Starving as they were, they flung away their
rations in their eagerness for the fight, and fell back at its close in
serried masses that no efforts of Marlborough could break. They
had lost twelve thousand
men, but the forcing
their lines of entrench-
ment had cost the allies
a loss of double that
number. Horror at such
a "deluge of blood"
increased the growing
weariness of the war ;
and the rejection of
the French offers was
unjustly attributed to a
desire on the part of
Marlborough of length-
ening out a contest
which brought him pro-
fit and power. A storm
of popular passion burst
suddenly on the Whigs.
Its occasion was a dull
and silly sermon in
which a High Church
divine. Dr. Sachcverell,
maintained the doctrine of non-resistance at St. Paul's, His
boldness challenged prosecution ; but in spite of the warning
of Marlborough and of Somcrs the Whig Ministers resolved
on his impeachment before the Lords, and the trial at once
widened into a great party struggle. An outburst of popular en-
thusiasm in Sacheverell's favour showed what a storm of hatred
had gathered against the Whigs and tlie war. The most eminent
of the Tory Churchmen stood by his side at the bar, cnjwds
escorted him to the court and back again, while the- streets rang
OAcm TimildJrirellmihT'ridejft/im car&'d.
But/i£ henns hm^lelhffughls rtmhn JdiBre/ut
SACHKVERELL S TRIUMPH.
Design for Playing-Card, 1710.
British Miiscmn.
Sec. IX
Marl-
borough
1698
TO
I7I2
Mai-
plaquet
Sachc-
verell
1568
HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE
CHAP.
Sec. IX
Marl-
borough
1698
TO
I7I2
Fall of
Marl-
borough
with cries of " The Church and Dr. Sachevcrell." A small majority
of the peers found the preacher guilty, but the light sentence they
inflicted was in effect an acquittal, and bonfires and illuminations
over the whole country welcomed it as a Tory triumph.
The party whom the Whigs had striven to crush were roused
to new life. The expulsion of Harley and St. John from the
Ministry had given the Tories leaders of a more subtle and vigorous
stamp than the High
Churchmen who had
quitted office in the
first years of the war,
and St. John brought
into play a new engine
of political attack
whose powers soon
made themselves felt.
In the Examiner and
in a crowd of pam-
phlets and periodicals
which followed in its
train, the humour of
Prior, the bitter irony
of Swift, and St. John's
own brilliant sophistry
spent themselves on the
abuse of the war and of
its general. " Six mil-
SeeJfVldcn Citizens mthHeart and Voice,
C/aueZcyal Mandm drntd^ave^arOinte,
Design for PlayingCard, 17 10.
British Museum.
lions of supplies and
almost fifty millions of
debt !" Swift wrote bit-
terly ; " the High Allies have been the ruin of us ! " Marlborough
was ridiculed and reviled, he was accused of insolence, cruelty and
ambition, of corruption and greed. Even his courage was called in
question. The turn of popular feeling freed Anne at once from the
pressure beneath which she had bent : and the subtle intrigue of
Harley was busy in undermining the Ministry. The Whigs, who
knew the Duke's alliance with them had simply been forced on him
by the war, were easily persuaded that the Queen had no aim but
THE REVOLUTION
1569
The Qiueniz/d/irrfsyi, andh^n&vSen/ifr fold,
Design for Playing-Card, 1710
British Museum.
Marl-
BOROLGH
1698
TO
of the
VVhigs
I7I0
to humble him, and looked coolly on at the dismissal of his son-in- Sec. ix
law, Sunderland, and his friend, Godolphin. Marlborough on his
part was lured by hopes of reconciliation with his old party, and
looked on as coolly while Anne dismissed the Whig Ministers and 1712
appointed a Tory Ministry in their place, with Harley and St. John Dis7uissal
at its head. But the intrigues of Harley paled before the subtle
treason of St. John. Resolute to drive Marlborough from his
command, he fed the
Duke's hopes of re-
conciliation with the
Tories, till he led him
to acquiesce in his
wife's dismissal, and to
pledge himself to a
co-operation with the
Tory policy. It was
the Duke's belief that
a reconciliation with
the Tories was effected
that led him to sanc-
tion the despatch of
troops which should
have strengthened his
army in Flanders on
a fruitless expedition
against Canada, though
this left him too weak
to carry out a masterly
plan which he had
formed for a march into
the heart of France in the opening of 171 1. He was unable even
to risk a battle or to do more than to pick up a few seaboard towns,
and St. John at once turned the small results of the campaign into
an argument for the conclusion of j)cace. In defiance of an article
of the Grand Alliance which pledged its members not to carry
on .separate negotiations with France, St. John, who now became
Lord Bolingbrokc, pushed forward a secret accommodation between
England and I'"rance. It was for this ni'gotialion that he had
I570 HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE chap.
Sec. IX crippled Marlborough's campaign ; and it was the discovery of his
Marl- pcrfidv which revealed to the Duke how utterly he had been
BOROUGH ^ ^ J
1698 betrayed, and forced him at last to break with the Tory Ministry.
TO
1712 He returned to England ; and his efforts induced the House of
Lords to denounce the contemplated peace ; but the support of
the Commons and the Queen, and the general hatred of the war
among the people, enabled Harley to ride down all resistance.
At the opening of 1712 the Whig majority in the House of Lords
was swamped by the creation of twelve Tory peers. Marlborough
was dismissed from his command, charged with peculation, and
condemned as guilty by a vote of the House of Commons. The
Duke at once withdrew from England, and with his withdrawal all
opposition to the peace was at an end.
Treaty of Marlborough's flight was followed by the conclusion of a Treaty
Utrecht , ^
1 713 at Utrecht between France, England, and the Dutch ; and the
desertion of his allies forced the Emperor at last to make peace at
Rastadt. By these treaties the original aim of the war, that of
preventing the possession of France and Spain by the House of
Bourbon, was abandoned. No precaution was taken against the
dangers it involved to the " balance of power," save by a provision
that the two crowns should never be united on a single head, and
by Philip's renunciation of all right of succession to the throne of
France. The principle on which the Treaties were based was in
fact that of the earlier Treaties of Partition. Philip retained Spain
and the Indies : but he ceded his possessions in Italy and the
Netherlands with the island of Sardinia to Charles of Austria, who
had now become Emperor, in satisfaction of his claims ; while he
handed over Sicily to the Duke of Savoy. To England he gave
up not only Minorca but Gibraltar, two positions which secured her
the command of the Mediterranean. France had to consent to the
re-establishment of the Dutch barrier on a greater scale than
before ; to pacify the English resentment against the French
privateers by the dismantling of Dunkirk ; and not only to recog-
nize the right of Anne to the crown, and the Protestant succession
in the House of Hanover, but to consent to the expulsion of the
Pretender from her soil. The failure of the Queen's health made
the succession the real question of the day, and it was a question
which turned all politics into faction and intrigue. The Whigs,
THE REVOLUTION
1571
who were still formidable in the Commons, and who showed the
strength of their party in the Lords by defeating a Treaty of
Commerce, in which Bolingbroke anticipated the greatest financial
triumph of William Pitt and secured freedom of trade between
England and France, were zealous for the succession of the
Sec. IX
Marl-
borough
1698
TO
I7I2
Hurley
and
Boling-
broke
HENRY ST. JOHN, VISCOfNT liOI.I.NCIiROKE.
Picture by Sir G. Kneller, at Petworth.
Elector ; nor did the Tories really contemplate any other plan.
But on the means of providing for his succession Ilarley and
Bolingbroke differed widely. Ilarley inclined to an alliance
between the moderate Tories and the Wlii;.;-^. Tlic polic)- of
Bolingbroke, on the other hand, was .so to strengthen the Tories by
Vol. IV— Part 34 5 1
1572 HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE chap.
Sec. IX the Utter overthrow of their opponents, that whatever might be the
Marl- Elcctor's S}'mpathics they could force their policy on him as King.
1698 To ruin his rival's influence he introduced a Schism Bill, which
TO
1712
kOKlKI HAIIM, 1 \K1 (I! ( i\FuRD
I toin an en^ta-in^ h J ' ^'^ Hiuhttnluig
hindered any Nonconformist from acting as a schoolmaster or a
tutor ; and which broke Harlcy's plans by creating a more bitter
division than ever between Tory and Whig. But its success went
IX
THE REVOLUTION
1573
beyond his intentions. The Whigs regarded the Bill as the first
step in a Jacobite restoration. The Electress Sophia was herself
alarmed, and the Hanoverian ambassador demanded for the son of
the Elector, the future George the Second, who had been created
Duke of Cambridge, a summons as peer to the coming Parliament,
with the aim of securing the presence in England of a Hanoverian
Prince in case of the Queen's death. The Queen's anger, fanned
Sec. IX
Marl-
bokoui;k
1698
TO
I7I2
EMBLEMS OF THE SILVERSMITHS CRAFT, 1 70O.
Bagford Collection, British Miiscutii.
by Bolingbroke, broke out in a letter to the Electress which
warned her that "such conduct may imperil the succession itself ; "
and in July Anne was brought to dismiss Harlcy, now Earl of
Oxford, and to construct a strong and united Tory Minis(r\- which
would back her in her resistance to the Elector's demand. As the
crisis grew nearer, both parties ])rc]')arcd for ci\-il war. In the
beginning of 1714 the Whigs had made read)- for a rising on the
Queen's death, and invited Marlborougli from J'"laiidcrs to iicad
5 I 2
^ ^l/Oib arc dmred to ttz^ tJie. ^f J (Jw'llUfteiy af^^
Lfoicu'Tnidvs atdwQ^/rufi \]'/mrrAof c^ U^^rtriiZ luarX^uddhali cm
(J^^cdai/ .tkctSLXtJi doLf ct '^&(Trucoru j707 atmnc Ofckc Clxrc/b in,
the ^(ojyuTw areas elu tficre to keoj- a Scrmmi y^frcm tJiaici tadcconi -
-pa/pAJ u &tj(lUsnulh^ hate LnfJ^astcrL^^ ruit/i ■^ ^
A(^ /^^ V^) /W^ 'W^
A
INVITATION TO A MEETING OF THE GOLDSMITHS' COMPANY, 1 707.
Bagford Collection, British Museum.
CHAP. IX
THE REVOLUTION
1575
them, in the hope that his name would rally the army to their
cause. Bolingbroke, on the other hand, intent on building up a
strong Tory party, made the Duke of Ormond, whose sympathies
were known to be in favour of the Pretender's succession. Warden
of the Cinque Ports, the district in which either claimant of the
crown must land, while he gave Scotland in charge to the Jacobite
Sec. IX
Makl-
BOKOL'GH
1698
TO
I7I2
THE
ROYAL SOCIETY'S
LETTER.
IHave (hy Order of the Royal Society) f.-en and *
eva" nei he Methoduftdby Mr J OH N MAR- ;
SHALL, fo grinding Glafles ; and find ihat he re-
forms the fail Work wi h greater Eale and Certa nty
than hi hi;r:o hasbcen pra(fliled ; byniejns of an In- ir
vcntion which I take to be his own, an) New and
■whereby he is enabled to 'rake a great number of Op- |
tick-Glafllsatone time, and all exaflly alike; which I
having reported to the Royal Society, they were plcafcd —
to approve thereof, as an Invention uf great ufcj aad
Jiighly to dcferie Ercouragemem.
Lend. Jan. i8- By the Command of the
'*93i4. Royal Scdcty;
E D M. H A L L E Y,
Note, Th<?reare fcveral Perfons vrho pretend to have the Approbation of the R O Y A L
SOCIETY; but none has, or ever had it, but my felf j as my Letter can teftifie.
ADVERTISEMENT OK JOHN MARSHALL, OPTICIAN, I694.
Bagford Collection, British Miiseiiiii.
Earl of Mar. But events moved faster than his plans. Anne was Daxii, of
suddenly struck with apoplexy. The Privy Council at once
assembled, and at the news the W'hig Dukes of Arg)-ll and
Somerset entered the Council Chamber without summons and took
their places at the board. The step had been taken in secret
concert with the Duke of Shrewsbur)', who was rrcsident of the
Council in llic Tor}' Alinisti")-, Inil a rival of 1 iolingbrokc- and an
1576
HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE
CHAP.
Sec. IX
Marl-
borough
1698
TO
I7I2
adherent of the Hanoverian succession. The act was a decisive
one. The right of the House of Hanover was at once acknow-
ledged, Shrewsbury was nominated as Lord Treasurer by the
Council, and the nomination was accepted by the dying Queen.
Bolingbrokc, though he remained Secretary of State, suddenly
found himself powerless and neglected, while the Council took
steps to provide for the emergency. Four regiments were sum-
moned to the capital in the expectation of a civil war. But the
Aug-. 10 Jacobites were hopeless and unprepared ; and on the death of Anne
1714
the Elector George of Hanover, who had become heir to the throne
b\' his mother's death, was proclaimed King of England without a
show of opposition.
ADVERTISEMENT OF JOHN HEATON, PRINTER, I709.
Cro7ulc Collection, British Museuin.
IX
THE REVOLUTION
1577
Sec. X
Walpole
1712
TO
1742
PRIMING OFFICE, C. 171O.
Engraving in Bagford Collection, British Mnseinn.
Section X. — W^alpole, 1712 — 1742
{Authorities. — Coxes Life of Sir Robert Walpole, Horace Walpole's
" Memoirs of the Reign of George II.," and Lord Hervey's amusing Memoirs
from the accession of George II. to the death of Queen Caroline, give the main
materials on one side ; Bolingbroke's Letter to Sir William Wyndham, his
" Patriot King," and his correspondence afford some insight into the other.
Horace Walpole's Letters to Sir Horace Mann give a minute account of his
father's fall. A sober and judicious account of the whole period may be found
in Lord Stanhope's " History of England from the Peace of Utrecht."]
The accession of George the First marked a change in the
position of England in the European Commonwealth. From the
age of the Plantagenets the country had stood apart from more
than passing contact with the fortunes of the Continent. But the
Revolution had forced her to join the Great Alliance of the Euro-
pean peoples ; and shameful as were some of its incidents, the
Peace of Utrecht left her the main barrier against the ambition of
the House of Bourbon. And not only did the Revolution set
England irrevocably among the powers of Europe, but it assigned
her a special place among them. The result of the alliance and
the war had been to cslabli^Ii what was then called a "balance of
England
a fid
Europe
1578
HISTOrs.Y OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE
CHAP
Sec. X
Walpole
1712
TO
1742
England
and the
House of
Hanover
power" between the great European states ; a balance which
rested indeed not so much on any natural equilibrium of forces as
on a compromise wrung from warring nations b}- the exhaustion
of a great struggle ; but which, once recognized and established,
could be adapted and readjusted, it was hoped, to the varying
political conditions of the time. Of this balance of power, as
recognized and defined in the Treaty of L'trecht and its successors,
England became the special guardian. The stubborn policy of
the Georgian statesmen
has left its mark on our
policy ever since. In
struggling for peace and
for the sanctity of
treaties, even though the
struggle was one of
selfish interest, England
took a ply which she
has never wholly lost.
A\'arlike and imperious
as is her national temper,
she has never been able
to free herself from a
sense that her business
in the world is to seek
peace alike for herself
and for the nations about
her, and that the best
security for peace lies in
her recognition, amidst
whatever difficulties and
seductions, of the force of international engagements and the
sanctity of treaties.
At home the new King's accession was followed by striking
political results. Under Anne the throne had regained much of
the older influence which it lost through William's unpopularity ;
but under the two sovereigns who followed Anne the power of the
Crown lay absolutely dormant. They were strangers, to whom
loyalty in its personal sense was impossible ; and their character
Tempest's "Cries pf London," i58S — 1702.
IX
THE REVOLUTION
1579
as nearly approached insignificance as it is possible for human
character to approach it. Both were honest and straightforward
men, who frankly accepted the irksome position of constitutional
kings. But neither had any qualities which could make their
honesty attractive to the people at large. The temper of George
the First was that of a gentleman usher ; and his one care was to
get money for his favourites and himself. The temper of George
the Second was that of a drill-sergeant, who believed himself
master of his realm while
he repeated the lessons
he had learnt from his
wife, and which his wife
had learnt from the Min-
ister. Their Court is
familiar enough in the
w'itty memoirs of the
time ; but as political
figures the two Georges
are almost absent from
our history. William of
Orange had not only
used the power of reject-
ing bills passed by the
two Houses, but had kept
in his own hands the
control of foreign affairs.
Anne had never )-ieldcd
even to Marlborough her
exclusive right of dealing
with Church preferment
and had presided to the last at the Cabinet Councils of her
ministers. But with the accession of the Georges these reserves
passed away. No sovereign since Anne's death has appeared at
a Cabinet Council, or has ventured to refu.se his assent to an Act
of Parliament. As I'Jcctor of Hanover indeed the King still dealt
with Continental affairs : but his personal interference roused an
increasing jealou.sy, while it affected in a very slight degree the
foreign policy of his English counsellors. England, in short, was
^^^
Si
=1
^
J^l
1
r
3y
M:iM^~-^'-
g\^R^^^^^
ChuaaeySwTef
Tempest's "Cries of London, 16SS — 1702.
Sec. X
Walpole
1712
TO
1742
Decline of
the royal
influence
1580
HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE
CHAP.
Sec. X
Walpole
1712
TO
1742
With-
dra-zval of
the Tories
Rule of
the Whigs
governed not by the King, but by the Whig ministers of the Crown.
Nor had the Whigs to fear any effective pressure from their
political opponents. *' The Tory party," Bolin'gbroke wrote after
Anne's death, " is gone." In the first House of Commons indeed
which was called by the new King, the Tories hardly numbered
fifty members ; while a fatal division broke their strength in the
country at large. In their despair the more vehement among them
turned to the Pretender. Lord Oxford was impeached and sent
to the Tower ; Boling-
broke and the Duke of
Ormond fled from Eng-
land to take office under
the son of King James.
At home Sir William
Wyndham seconded their
efforts by building up a
Jacobite faction out of
the wreck of the Tory
party. The Jacobite se-
cession gave little help
to the Pretender, while
it dealt a fatal blow to
the Tory cause. Eng-
land was still averse from
a return of the Stuarts ;
and the suspicion of
Jacobite designs not only
alienated the trading
classes, who shrank from the blow to public credit which a
Jacobite repudiation of the debt would bring about, but deadened
the zeal even of the parsons and squires ; while it was known
to have sown a deep distrust of the whole Tory party in the
heart of the new sovereign. The Crown indeed now turned to
the Whigs ; while the Church, which up to this time had been
the main stumbling-block of their party, was sinking into political
insignificance, and was no longer a formidable enemy. For more
than thirty years the Whigs ruled England. But the length of
their rule was not wholly due to the support of the Crown or the
AMerrF new Snnaj
Tempest's "Cries 0/ London,"
IX
THE REVOLUTION
1581
secession of the Tories. It was in some measure due to the
excellent organization of their party. While their adversaries
were divided by differences of principle and without leaders
of real eminence, the Whigs stood as one man on the principles
of the Revolution and produced great leaders who carried them
into effect. They submitted with admirable discipline to the
guidance of a knot of great nobles, to the houses of Bentinck,
Manners, Campbell, and Cavendish, to the Fitzroys and Len-
noxes, the Russells and
Grenvilles, families whose
resistance to the Stuarts,
whose share in the Revo-
lution, whose energy in
setting the line of Han-
over on the throne, gave
them a claim to power.
It was due yet more
largely to the activity
with which the Whigs
devoted themselves to
the gaining and preserv-
ing an ascendency in the
House of Commons. The
support of the commer-
cial classes and of the
great towns was secured
not only by a resolute
maintenance of public
credit, but by the special attention which each ministry paid to
questions of trade and finance. Peace and the reduction of the
land-ta.x conciliated the farmers and the landowners, while the
Jacobite sympathies of the bulk of the squires, and their conse-
quent withdrawal from all share in politics, threw even the repre-
sentation of the shires for a time into Whig hands. Of the county
members, who formed the less numerous but the weightier part
of the lower House, nine-tenths were for some years relatives and
dependents of the great Whig families. Nor were coarser means
of controlling Parliament neglected. The wealth of the Whig
liily wJbil* Vines:ar J p'lux a quatt
Tempest's "Cries of London," 16S8 — 1702.
Sec. X
Walpole
1712
TO
1742
The
Whigs
and Par-
liament
I.S2 HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE chap.
Sec. X houses was lavishly spent in sccurinL;- a monopoly of the small and
Walpole corrupt constituencies which made up a lars^c part of the borough
'to" representation. It was spent \-ct more unscrupulously in Parlia-
^2^ mcntar\' briber}-. Corruption was older than Walpole or the
Whig Ministr}', for it sprang out of the \-ery transfer of power to
the House of Commons which had begun with the Restoration.
The transfer was complete, and the House was supreme in the
State ; but while freeing itself from the control of the Crown, it
was as )'et imperfectly responsible to the people. It was only at
election time that a member felt the pressure of public opinion.
The secrecy of parliamentary proceedings, which had been needful
as a safeguard against royal interference with debate, served as a
safeguard against interference on the part of constituencies. This
strange union of immense power with absolute freedom from re-
sponsibility brought about its natural results in the bulk of members.
A vote was too valuable to be given without recompense ; and
parliamentary support had to be bought by places, pensions, and
bribes in hard cash. But dexterous as was their management, and
compact as was their organization, it was to nobler qualities than
these that the Whigs owed their long rule over England. They
were true throughout to the principles on which they had risen
into power, and their unbroken administration converted those
principles into national habits. Before their long rule was over,
Englishmen had forgotten that it was possible to persecute for
difference of opinion, or to put down the libert}' of the press, or
to tamper with the administration of justice, or to rule without a
Parliament.
Walpole That this policy w^as so firmly grasped and so steadily carried
out was due above all to the genius of Robert Walpole. Born in
1676, he entered Parliament two years before William's death as a
young Norfolk landowner of fair fortune, with the tastes and air
of the class from which he sprang. His big square figure, his
vulgar good-humoured face were those of a common country
squire. And in Walpole the squire underlay the statesman to the
last. He was ignorant of books, he " loved neither writing nor
reading," and if he had a taste for art, his real love was for the
table, the bottle, and the chase. He rode as hard as he drank.
Even in moments of political peril, the first despatch he would
IX
THE REVOLUTION
158:
open was the letter from his gamekeeper. There was the temper
of the Norfolk fox-hunter in the " doggedness " which Marlborough
noted as his characteristic, in the burly self-confidence which
declared " If I had not been Prime Minister I should have been
Archbishop of Canterbury," in the stubborn courage which
conquered the awkwardness of his earlier efforts to speak, or met
single-handed at the last the bitter attacks of a host of enemies.
Sec. X
WaLI'OLE
1712
TO
1742
SIR ROBERT WALI'OI.E.
Piiture hy J. B. I'an Loo, in the National Portrait Gallery.
There was the same temper in the genial good-humour which
became with him a new force in politics. No man was ever more
ficrccl)- attacked by speakers and writers, but he brought in no
"gagging Act" for the press ; and though the lives of most of his
assailants were in his hands through their intrigues with the
Pretender, he made little use fjf his power o\-cr them. Where his
countrv' breeding showed itself most, however, was in the shrewd,
narrow, honest character of his mind. Thou;;h he saw \cry
1584
HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE
CHAP.
Sec. X
Walpole
1712
TO
1742
The
Jacobite
Revolt
The
To-wns-
hend
Ministry
clearly, he could not see far, and he would not believe what he
coukl not sec. He was thoroughly straightforward and true to
his own convictions, so far as they went. " Robin and I are two
honest men," the Jacobite Shippen owned in later years, when
contrasting him with his factious opponents : " he is for King
George and I am for King James, but those men with long cravats
only desire place either under King George or King James." He
saw the value of the political results which the Revolution had
won, and he carried out his " Revolution principles " with a rare
fidelity through years of unquestioned power. But his prosaic
good sense turned sceptically away from the poetic and passionate
sides of human feeling. Appeals to the loftier or purer motives of
action he laughed at as " school-boy flights." For young members
who talked of public virtue or patriotism he had one good-natured
answer : " You will soon come off that and grow wiser."
How great a part Walpole was to play no one could as yet
foresee. Though his vigour in the cause of his party had earned
him the bitter hostility of the Tories in the later years of Anne,
and a trumped-up charge of peculation had served in 171 2 as a
pretext for expelling him from the House and committing him to
the Tower, at the accession of George the First Walpole was far
from holding the commanding position he was soon to assume.
The first Hanoverian Ministry was drawn wholly from the Whig
party, but its leaders and Marlborough found themselves alike set
aside. The direction of affairs was entrusted to the new Secretary
of State, Lord Townshend ; his fellow Secretary was General
Stanhope, who was raised to the peerage. It was as Townshend's
brother-in-law, rather than from a sense of his actual ability, that
Walpole successively occupied the posts of Paymaster of the
Forces, Chancellor of the Exchequer, and First Lord of the
Treasur}', in the new administration. The first work of the
Ministry was to meet a desperate attempt of the Pretender to gain
the throne. There was no real prospect of success, for the active
Jacobites in England were few, and the Tories were broken and
dispirited by the fall of their leaders. The death of Lewis ruined
all hope of aid from France ; the hope of Swedish aid proved as
fruitless ; but in spite of Bolingbroke's counsels James Stuart
resolved to act alone. Without informing his new minister, he
IX
THE REVOLUTION
ordered the Earl of Mar to give the signal for revolt in the
North. In Scotland the triumph of the Whigs meant the con-
tinuance of the House of Argyll in power, and the rival High-
land clans were as ready to fight the Campbells under Mar as
they had been ready to fight them under Dundee or Montrose.
But Mar was a leader of different stamp from these. Six thousand
Highlanders joined him at Perth, but his cowardice or want of
conduct kept his army idle, till Argyll had gathered forces to
meet it in an indecisive engagement at Shcriffmuir. The Pre-
1585
Sec. X
Wai.pole
1712
TO
1742
The
Rising
Contemporary Print.
tender, who arrived too late for the action, proved a yet more
sluggish and incapable leader than Mar : and at the close
of 171 5 the advance of fresh forces drove James over-sea
again and dispersed the clans to their hills. In England the
danger passed away like a dream. The accession of the new
King had been followed by some outbreaks of riotous discon-
tent ; but at the talk of Highland risings and French inva-
sions Tories and Whigs alike rallied round the throne ; while
the army went hotl}' for King George. The suspension of the
Habeas Cori)Us Act, and the arrest of their leader, .Sir \\ illiam
1586
HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE
CHAP.
Sec. X
W A I- POLE
I7I2
TO
1742
The
Septen-
nial Bill
The
Whigs
and
Europe
\\'\-iull"iani, cowed tlic Jacobites ; and not a man stirred in the west
wlicn OrnKMul appeared off the coast of Devon, and called on his
party to rise. Oxford alone, where the University w^as a hotbed
of Jacobitism, showed itself restless ; and a few of the Catholic
gentry rose in Northumberland, under Lord Dcrwcntwater and
Mr. Forstcr. The arrival of two thousand Highlanders who had
been sent to join them by Mar spurred them to a march into
Lancashire, where the Catholic party was strongest ; but they w^erc
soon cooped up in Preston, and driven to a surrender. The
Ministry availed itself of its triumph to gratify the Nonconformists
by a repeal of the Schism and Occasional Conformity Acts, and to
venture on a great constitutional
change. Under the Triennial
Bill in William's reign the dura-
tion of a Parliament was limited
to three years. Now that the
House of Commons however
w^as become the ruling power in
the State, a change was abso-
lutely required to secure steadi-
ness and fixity of political ac-
tion ; and in 17 16 this necessity
coincided with the desire of the
Whigs to maintain in power a
thoroughly Whig Parliament.
The duration of Parliament
LORD NITHSDALE'S ESCAPE, 1716.
Contcvifiorary Print.
w^as therefore extended to seven years by the Septennial Bill. But
the Jacobite rising brought about a yet more momentous change
in English policy abroad. At the moment when the landing of
James in Scotland had quickened the anxiety of King George
that France should be wholly detached from his cause, the actual
state of European politics aided to bring about a new triple
alliance between PVance, England, and Holland.
Since the death of Lewis the Fourteenth in 171 5 France had
been ruled by the Duke of Orleans as Regent for the young King,
Lewis the Fifteenth. The Duke stood next in the succession to the
crown, if Philip of Spain observed the renunciation of his rights
which he had made in the Treaty of Utrecht. It was well known,
IX
THE REVOLUTION
15S7
"Old Cloaks, suits or coats.'
Tempest' s ' ' Cries. ' '
however, that Philip had no notion of observing this renunciation,
and the constant dream of every
Spaniard was to recover all that
Spain had given up. To attempt
this was to defy Europe ; for
Savoy had gained Sicily : the
Emperor held the Netherlands,
Naples, and the Milanese ; Hol-
land looked on the Barrier for-
tresses as vital to its own security ;
while England clung tenaciously
to the American trade. But the
boldness of Cardinal Alberoni, who
was now the Spanish Minister,
accepted the risk ; and while his
master was intriguing against the
Regent in France, Alberoni pro-
mised aid to the Jacobite cause
as a means of preventing the inter-
ference of England with his designs. His first attempt was to re-
cover the Italian provinces which Philip had lost, and armaments
greater than Spain had seen for a cen-
tury reduced Sardinia in 1717. England
and France at once drew together and
entered into a compact by which France
guaranteed the succession of the House
of Hanover in England, and England
the succession of the House of Orleans,
should Lewis the Fifteenth die without
heirs ; and the two powers were joined,
though unwillingly, by Holland. When
in the summer of 17 18 a strong Spanish
force landed in Sicily, and made itself
master of the island, the appearance of
an English squadron in the Straits of
Messina was followed by an engage-
ment in which the .Spanish fleet was all but destroyed. Alhcroni
strove to avenge the blow by fitting out an armamciil which the
Vol. IV— Part ^4 5 k
" Small Coalc. "
Tempest's ^^ Cries."
Sec. X
Walpole
1712
TO
1742
Alliance
against
Spain
1588
HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE
CHAP.
Sec. X
Walpole
1712
TO
1742
The
Stanhope
Ministry
' London's Gazette here.
Tempest's " Cries."
Duke of Ormond \va.s to comniaiul ior a rc\ival of the Jacobite rising
in Scotlaixl. But the ships were wrecked
in the Bay of Biscay; and the accession of
Austria with Savoy to the Triple AlHance
left Spain alone in the face of Europe.
The progress of the French armies in
the north of Spain forced Philip at last
to give wa)'. Alberoni was dismissed ;
and the Spanish forces were withdrawn
from Sardinia and Sicil}'. The last of
these islands now passed to the Emperor,
Savo}' being compensated for its loss by
the acquisition of Sardinia, from which
its Duke took the title of King; while the
work of the Treaty of Utrecht was com-
pleted b\- the Emperor's renunciation of his
claims on the crown of Spain and Philip's
renunciation of his claims on the Milanese and the two Sicilies.
The struggle however had shown the difficulties which the
double position of its sove-
reign was to bring on Eng-
land In his own mind George
cared more for the interests
of his Electorate of Hanover
than of his kingdom ; and
these were now threatened by
Charles XII. of Sweden, whose
anger had been roused at the
cession to Hanover of the
Swedish possessions of Bre-
men and Verden by the King
of Denmark, who had seized
them while Charles was absent
in Turkey. The despatch of a
British fleet into the Baltic to
overawe Sweden identified
England with the policy of Hanover, and Charles retorted by
joining with Alberoni, and b\- concluding an alliance with the Czar,
"Long threed laces, long and strong."
Tempest's "Cries."
IX
THE REVOLUTION
1589
"New River Water.'
Temf>csfs "Cries."
Peter the Great, for a restoration of the Stuarts. Luckily for the
new dynasty his plans were brought to an end by his death
at the siege of Frederickshall ; but
the policy which provoked them had
already brought about the dissolu-
tion of the Ministry. In assenting
to a treaty of alliance with Hanover
against Sweden, they had yielded to
the fact that Bremen and Verden
were not only of the highest import-
ance to Hanover, which was thus
brought into contact with the sea,
but of hardly less value to England,
as they secured the mouths of the
Elbe and the Weser, the chief inlets
for British commerce into Germany,
in the hands of a friendly state. But
they refused to go further in carrying
out a Hanoverian policy ; the anger
of the King was seconded by intrigues among the ministers ; and
in 1 7 17 Townshend and Walpole had been forced to resign their
posts. In the reconstituted cabinet
Lords Sunderland and Stanhope re-
mained supreme ; and their first aim
was to secure the maintenance of the
Whig power by a constitutional change.
Harley's creation of twelve peers to
ensure the sanction of the Lords to
the Treaty of Utrecht showed that the
Crown possessed a power of swamping
the majority in the House of Peers. In
1720 therefore the Ministry introduced
a bill, suggested as was believed by
.Sunderland, which profe.s.sed to secure
the liberty of the Upper House by
limiting the i)ower of the Crown in the
creation of fresh I'cers. The minihci- of
Peers was permanently fi.xed at the number then sitting in the
House; and creations could only be made when vacancies occurred.
5 K 2
".\ bra.ss J'oit or .-ui iron J'utt to
mend."
Tempest's " Cries.'
Sec. X
Walpole
1712
TO
1742
I718
Englajid
and
Hanover
The
PrcraiTf
Bifl
I590
HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE
CHAP.
Sec. X
Walpole
1712
TO
1742
"Buy my Dutch Biskets
Tempest's "Cn'cs."
Twenty-five hereditary Scotch Peers were substituted for the
sixteen elected Peers for Scotland. The bill however was strenu-
ously opposed by Walpole. It would
in fact have rendered representative
government impossible. P"or repre-
sentative government was now coming
day by day more completely to mean
government by the will of the House
of Commons, carried out by a Minis-
try which served as the mouthpiece
of that will. But it was only through
the prerogative of the Crown, as ex-
ercised under the advice of such a
Ministry, that the Peers could be
forced to bow to the will of the Lower
House in matters where their opinion
was adverse to it ; and the proposal
of Sunderland would have brought
legislation and government to a dead
lock. The Peerage Bill owed its defeat to Walpole's opposition ;
and his rivals were forced to admit him, with Townshend, into
the Ministry, though they held sub-
ordinate places. But this soon gave
way to a more natural arrangement.
South Sea The suddcn increase of English com-
merce begot at this moment the
mania of speculation. Ever since the
age of Elizabeth the unknown wealth
of Spanish America had acted like a,
spell upon the imagination of Eng-
lishmen ; and Harley gave counten-
ance to a South Sea Company, which
promised a reduction of the public
debt as the price of a monopoly of
the Spanish trade. Spain however
clung jealously to her old prohibi-
tions of all foreign commerce ; and
the Treaty of Utrecht only won for England the right of engaging
in the negro slave-trade, and of despatching a single ship to the
Bubble
"Fine Writeing Inke.'
Teinjiest's ''Cries."
IX
THE REVOLUTION
1591
coast of Spanish America. But in spite of all this, the Company
again came forward, offering in exchange for new privileges to pay-
off national burdens which amounted to nearly a million a year. It
Sec. X
Walpole
1712
TO
1742
LOJXDI\ES
fix
"IH "Ilk «i,l •""
TRADE LABEL (Jl- THK bOUTH SEA CUMrA.NV.
Ciiiliihall Aliiicicm.
was in vain that Walpole warned the Ministry and the countr}^
against this "dream." Ikjth went mad ; and in 1720 bubble Com-
pany followed bubble Conipan}-, till the inevitable reaction brought
a general ruin in its train. The crash brought Stanhope to the
1592 HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE chap.
Sec X grave. Of his colleagues, many were found to have received
walpolk bribes from the South Sea Company to back its frauds. Craggs,
1712
TO the Secretary of State, died of terror at the investigation ; Aislabie,
— -" the Chancellor of the Exchequer, was sent to the Tower ; and in
the general wreck of his rivals Walpole mounted again into power
Walpoles In 1 72 1 he became First Lord of the Treasury, while Townshend
Ministry ^ r r- ti 1 • 1 •
returned to his post of Secretary of State. Jiut then" relative
position was now reversed. Townshend had been the head in
their earlier administration : in this Walpole was resolved, to use
his own characteristic phrase, that " the firm should be Walpole
and Townshend and not Townshend and Walpole."
Walpoles If no Minister has fared worse at the hands of poets and
Policy historians, there are few whose greatness has been more impartially
recognized by practical statesmen. The years of his power indeed
are years without parallel in our history for political stagnation.
His long administration of more than twenty years is almost
without a history. All legislative and political activity seemed to
cease with his entry into office. Year after year passed by without
a change. In the third year of his IMinistry there was but one
division in the House of Commons. The Tory members were so
few that for a time they hardly cared to attend its sittings ; and in
1722 the loss of Bishop Atterbury of Rochester, who was convicted
of correspondence with the Pretender, deprived of his bishopric,
and banished by Act of Parliament, deprived the Jacobites of their
only remaining leader. Walpole's one care was to maintain the
quiet which was reconciling the country to the system of the
Revolution. But this inaction fell in with the temper of the nation
at large. It was popular with the class which commonly presses
for political activity. The energy of the trading class was ab-
sorbed in the rapid extension of commerce and accumulation of
wealth. So long as the country was justly and temperately
governed the merchant and shopkeeper were content to leave
government in the hands that held it. All they asked was to be
let alone to enjoy their new freedom, and develope their new
industries. And Walpole let them alone. Progress became
material rather than political, but the material progress of the
country was such as P^ngland had never seen before. The work of
keeping England quiet and of giving quiet to Europe, was in itself
THE REVOLUTION
1593
a noble one ; and it is the temper with which he carried on this
work which gives Walpole his place among English statesmen.
He was the first and he was the most successful of our Peace
Ministers. " The most pernicious circumstances," he said, " in
which this country can be are those of war ; as we must be losers
while it lasts, and cannot be great gainers when it ends." It was
not that the honour or influence of England suffered in his hands,
for he won victories by the firmness of his policy and the skill of
his negotiations as effectual as any which are won by arms. But
in spite of the complications of foreign affairs, and the pressure
from the Court and the Opposition, it is the glory of Walpole that
he resolutely kept England at peace. Peace indeed was hard to
maintain. The Emperor Charles the Sixth had issued a Pragmatic
Sec. X
Walpoi.k
1712
TO
1742
MEDAL CO.MMFMORATING THE SIEGE OF GIBRALTAR, I727.
Sanction, by which he provided that his hereditary dominions Fresh
should descend unbroken to his daughter, Maria Theresa ; but no s/Jaiu
European State had yet consented to guarantee her succession.
Spain, still resolute to regain her lost possessions, and her old
monopoly of trade with her American colonies, seized the oppor-
tunity of detaching the Emperor from the alliance of the Eour
Powers, which left her isolated in Europe. She promised to sup-
port the Pragmatic Sanction in return for a pledge from Charles to
aid in wresting Gibraltar and Minorca from England, and in se-
curing to a Spanish prince tiic succession to Parma, Piacenza, am!
Tuscany. A grant of the highest trading privileges in her
American dominions to a commercial company which the I'^^inpcror
had established at Ostcnd, in defiance of the Treat}' of \\ i-.sti)halia
1594 HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE chap.
1712
1742
172;
sfx. X and the remonstrances of England and Holland, revealed this
Wali'ole secret alliance ; and there were fears of the adhesion of Russia.
The danger was met for a while by an alliance of England, France,
and Prussia ; but the withdrawal of the last Power again gave
courage to the confederates, and in 1727 the Spaniards besieged
Gibraltar, while Charles threatened an invasion of Holland. The
moderation of Walpole alone averted a European war. While
sending British squadrons to the Baltic, the Spanish coast, and
America, he succeeded by diplomatic pressure in again forcing the
1729 Emperor to inaction ; Spain was at last brought to sign the Treaty
of Seville, and to content herself with a promise of the succession
of a Spanish prince to the Duchies of Parma and Tuscany ; and
the discontent of Charles at this concession was allayed in 1731
by giving the guarantee of England to the Pragmatic Sanction.
Walpole s As Walpole was the first of our Peace Ministers, so he was the
first of our Financiers. He was far indeed from discerning the
powers which later statesmen have shown to exist in a sound
finance, but he had the sense to see, what no minister had till then
seen, that the wisest course a statesman can take in presence of a
great increase in national industry and national wealth is to look
quietly on and let it alone. At the outset of his rule he declared
in a speech from the Throne that nothing would more conduce to
the extension of commerce " than to make the exportation of our
own manufactures, and the importation of the commodities used
in the manufacturing of them, as practicable and easy as may be."
The first act of his financial administration was to take off the
duties from more than a hundred British exports, and nearly forty
articles of importation. In 1730 he broke in the same enlightened
spirit through the prejudice which restricted the commerce of the
colonies to the mother-country alone, by allowing Georgia and the
Carolinas to export their rice directly to any part of Europe. The
result was that the rice of America soon drove that of Italy and
Egypt from the market. His Excise Bill, defective as it was, was
the first measure in which an English Minister showed any real
grasp of the principles of taxation. The wisdom of Walpole
was rewarded by a quick upgrowth of prosperity. Our exports,
which were si.x millions in \-alue at the beginning of the century,
had doubled by the middle of it. The rapid developement of the
IX
THE REVOLUTION
1595
Colonial trade gave England a new wealth. In Manchester and
Birmingham, whose manufactures were now becoming of import-
ance, population doubled in thirty years. Bristol, the chief seat of
the West Indian trade, rose into new prosperity. Liverpool,
which owes its creation to the new trade with the West, sprang
Sec. X
Walpole
1712
TO
1742
JONATHAN SWIFT, DEAN OF S. PATRICK S, DUHLIN.
From an engraving by E. ^ci'iven, after !•'. Bhuioii.
up from a little countrx' town into the third port of the kingdom.
With peace and sccurit\-, and the wealth that they brought with
them, the value of land, and with it the rental of every count'}-
gentleman, rose fast. Ikit this up-grouth of wealth around liiin
never made Walpole swer\c frc^m a rigid ec(jnom\', from the
1596
HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE
CHAP.
Sec. X
Walpole
1712
TO
1742
Walpole
and the
Parlia-
ment
Steady reduction of the debt, or the diminution of fiscal duties.
ICvcn before the death of George the First the pubHc burdens were
reduced by twenty niiUions.
The accession of George the Second in 1727 seemed to give a
fatal shock to Wal pole's power ; for the new King was known to
have hated his father's Minister hardly less than he had hated his
father. Ikit hale Walpole as he might, the King was absolutely
guided by the adroitness of his wife, Caroline of Anspach ; and
Caroline had resolved that there should be no chano-e in the
ALEXANDER POPE.
Picture at C/u'siukk House.
^Ministry. The years which followed were in fact those in which
George the W'alpolc's power reached its height. He gained as great an
influence over George the Second as he had gained over his father.
His hold over the House of Commons remained unshaken. The
country was tranquil and prosperous. The prejudices of the
landed gentry were met by a stead}^ effort to reduce the land-
tax. The Church was quiet. The Jacobites were too hopeless to
stir. A few trade measures and social reforms crept quietly
through the Houses. An inquiry into the state of the gaols
showed that social thought was not utterly dead. A bill of great
IX
THE REVOLUTION
1597
value enacted that all proceedings in courts of justice should
henceforth be in the English language. Only once did Walpole
break this tranquillity by an attempt at a great measure of states-
manship. No tax had from the first moment of its introduction
been more unpopular than the Excise. Its origin was due to Pym
and the Long Parliament, who imposed duties on beer, cyder, and
perry, which at the Restoration produced an annual income of
more than six hundred thousand pounds. The war with France
brought with it the malt-tax, and additional duties on spirits,
wine, tobacco, and other articles. So great had been the increase
in the public wealth that the return from the Excise amounted at
the death of George the First to nearly two millions and a half a
year. But its unpopularity remained unabated, and even philoso-
phers like Locke contended that the whole public revenue should
be drawn from direct taxes upon the land. Walpole, on the other
hand, saw in the growth of indirect taxation a means of winning
over the country gentry to the new dynasty of the Revolution by
freeing the land from all burdens whatever. Smuggling and
fraud diminished the revenue by immense sums. The loss on
tobacco alone amounted to a third of the whole dut}'. The
Excise Bill of 1733 met this evil by the establishment of bonded
warehouses, and by the collection of the duties from the inland
dealers in the form of Excise and not of Customs. The first
measure would have made London a free port, and doubled
English trade. The second would have so largely increased the
revenue, without any loss to the consumer, as to enable Walpole
to repeal the land-tax. In the case of tea and coffee alone, the
change in the mode of levying the duty w^as estimated to bring in
an additional hundred thousand pounds a year. The necessaries
of life and the raw materials of manufacture were in Walpole's
plan to remain absolutely untaxed. The scheme was an anticipa-
tion of the principles which have guided English finance since the
triumph of free trade ; but in 1733 Walpole stood ahead of his
time. A violent agitation broke out ; riots almost grew into
revolt ; and in spite of the Queen's wish to j)ut down resistance
by force, Walpole withdrew the bill. " I will not be the Minister,"
he said with noble .self-command, " to enforce ta.xes at the cxpcn.se
of blood." What had fanned poinilar prijiidici' inlo a llame
Sec. X
Walpole
1712
TO
1742
Excise
Bill
THE IIUUSE OF CO.MMoN.-i IN WALPOI.F. s ADMINISTRATION.
From A. Fagg s engraz-ing Of a picture by Hogarth and Thortihill.
CHAP. IX THE REVOLUTION
1599
1712
TO
1742
during the uproar was the violence of the so-called " Patriots." Sec. x
In the absence of a strong opposition and of great impulses to ^v.^LroLE
enthusiasm a party breaks readily into factions ; and the weakness
of the Tories joined with the stagnation of public affairs to breed
faction among the Whigs. Walpole too was jealous of power ; Patriots
and as his jealousy drove colleague after colleague out of office,
they became leaders of a party whose sole aim was to thrust him
from his post. Greed of power indeed was the one passion which
mastered his robust common-sense. Townshend was turned out
of office in 1730, Lord Chesterfield in 1733 ; and though he started
with the ablest administration the country had known, Walpole
was left after twenty years of supremacy with but one man of
ability in his cabinet, the Chancellor, Lord Hardwicke. With the
single exception of Townshend, the colleagues whom his jealousy
dismissed plunged into an opposition more factious and un-
principled than has ever disgraced English politics. The
" Patriots," as they called themselves, owned Pulteney as their
head ; they were reinforced by a band of younger Whigs — the
" Boys," as Walpole named them — whose temper revolted alike
against the inaction and cynicism of his policy, and whose spokes-
man was a young cornet of horse, William Pitt ; and they rallied
to these the fragment of the Tory party which still took part in
politics, and which was guided for a while by the virulent ability
of Bolingbroke, whom Walpole had suffered to return from exile,
but to whom he had refused the restoration of his seat in the
House of Lords. But Walpole's defeat on the Excise Bill had
done little to shake his power, and Bolingbroke withdrew to
France in despair at the failure of his efforts.
Abroad the first signs of a new danger showed themselves in The
1733, when the peace of Europe was broken afresh by disputes ^^j.
which rose out of a contested election to the throne of Poland.
Austria and France were alike drawn into the strife ; and in
England the awakening jealousy of P^rench designs roused a new
pressure for war. The new King too was eager to fight, and her
German .sympathies inclined even Caroline to join in the fra}-.
But W^alpole stood firm for the observance of neutralit)-. " There
arc fifty thousand men slain this year in Europe," he boasted as
the strife went on, "and not one ICnglishman." The intcrxcntion
CHAP. IX THE REVOLUTION i6oi
of England and Holland succeeded in 1736 in restoring peace; Sec. x
but the countr)' noted bitterly that peace was bought by the walpole
1712
triumph of both branches of the House of Bourbon. A new to
Bourbon monarchy was established at the cost of the House of —
Austria by the cession of the Two Sicilies to a Spanish Prince, in
exchange for his right of succession to Parma and Tuscan}'. On
the other hand, Lorraine passed finally into the hands of France.
The birth of children to Lewis the Fifteenth had settled all The
r • • T- 1 11 -1 Family
questions 01 succession in r ranee, and no obstacle remained to Compact
hinder their family sympathies from uniting the Bourbon Courts
in a common action. As early as 1733 a Family Compact had
been secretly concluded between France and Spain, the main
object of which was the ruin of the maritime supremacy of
Britain. Spain bound herself to deprive England gradually of its
commercial privileges in her American dominions, and to transfer
them to France. France in return engaged to support Spain at
sea, and to aid her in the recover}^ of Gibraltar. The caution with
which Walpole held aloof from the Polish war rendered this com-
pact inoperative for the time ; but neither of the Bourbon courts
ceased to look forward to its future execution. No sooner was
the war ended than France strained every nerve to increase her
fleet ; while Spain steadily tightened the restrictions on British
commerce with her American colonies. The trade with Spanish EuirJaud
America, which, illegal as it was, had grown largely through the
connivance of Spanish port-officers during the long alliance of
England and Spain in the wars against France, had at last re-
ceived a legal recognition in the Peace of Utrecht. It was indeed
left under narrow restrictions ; but these were evaded by a \ast
.system of smuggling which rendered what remained of the Spanish
monopoly all but valueless. The efforts of Philip however to
bring down English intercourse with his colonics to the importa-
tion of negroes and the despatch of a single ship, as stipulated by
the Treaty of Utrecht, brought about collisions which made it
hard to keep the peace. The ill-humour of the trading classes ro.se
to madness in 1738 when a merchant captain named Jenkins
told at the bar of the House of Commons the tale of his torture
by the Spaniards, and produced an ear which, he said, thc\' had
cut off with taunts at the English king. It was in \ain llial
CHAP. IX
THE REVOLUTION
1603
Sec. X
Walpole
1712
TO
1742
Walpole strove to do justice to both parties, and that he battled
stubbornly against the cry for an unjust and impolitic war. The
Emperor's death was now close at hand ; and at such a juncture it
was of the highest importance that England should be free to
avail herself of every means to guard the European settlement.
But his efforts were in vain. His negotiations were foiled by the
frenzy of the one country and the pride of the other. At home his
enemies assailed him with a storm of abuse. Ballad-singers
trolled out their rimes to the crowd on the " cur-dog of Britain and
spaniel of Spain." His position had been weakened by the death
of the Queen ; and it was now weakened yet more by the open
hostility of the Prince of Wales. His mastery of the House of
Commons too was no longer unquestioned. The Tories were
slowly returning to Parliament. The numbers and the violence of
the " Patriots " had grown with the open patronage of Prince
Frederick. The country was slowly turning against him. With
the cry for a commercial war the support of the trading class
failed him. But it was not till he stood utterly alone that
Walpole gave way and that he consented in 1739 to a war against
Spain.
" They may ring their bells now," the great minister said
bitterly, as peals and bonfires welcomed his surrender ; " but they P
will soon be wringing their hands." His
foresight was at once justified. No sooner
had Admiral Vernon appeared off the coast
of South America with an English fleet, and
captured Porto Bcllo, than France formally
declared that she would not consent to any
English settlement on the mainland of
South America, and despatched two squad-
rons to the West Indies. At this crisis the
death of Charles the Sixth forced on the European struggle which
Walpole had dreaded. France saw her opportunity for finishing
the work which Henry the Second had begun of breaking up the
Empire into a group of powers too weak to resist French
aggression. While the new King of Prussia, Frederick the Second,
claimed Silesia, Bavaria claimed the Austrian Duchies, which
pas.sed with the other hereditary dominions, according to the
Vol.. IV— Part 35 5 I-
Fall of
MKDAI, ON CAPTURE OF
I'ORTOHELLO, 1 739.
The
Austrian
Succession
1740
t 7 -'
ll'TPilifll
' -f i'ir
VT'
'N
2 «"
^ I'
< 5
CHAP. IX THE REVOLUTION 1605
Pragmatic Sanction, to the Queen of Hungary, Maria Theresa. In Sec. x
union therefore with Spain, which aimed at the annexation of the Walpole
Milanese, France promised her aid to Prussia and Bavaria ; while -^o
Sweden and Sardinia allied themselves to France. In the summer 11."
of 1 741 two French armies entered Germany, and the Elector of
Bavaria appeared unopposed before Vienna. Never had the House
of Austria stood in such peril. Its opponents counted on a
division of its dominions. France claimed the Netherlands, Spain
the ]\Iilanese, Bavaria the kingdom of Bohemia, Frederick the
Second Silesia. Hungary and the Duchy of Austria alone were
left to Maria Theresa. Walpole, though still true to her cause,
advised her to purchase Frederick's aid against France and her
allies by the cession of part of Silesia ; but the " Patriots " spurred
her to i-efusal by promising her the aid of England. Walpole's
last hope of rescuing Austria was broken, and Frederick was
driven to conclude an alliance with France. But the Queen
refused to despair. She won the support of Hungary by restoring
its constitutional rights ; and British subsidies enabled her to
march at the head of a Hungarian army to the rescue of Vienna,
to overrun Bavaria, and repulse an attack of Frederick on Moravia
in the spring of 1742. On England's part, however, the war was
waged feebly and ineffectively. Admiral Vernon was beaten
before Carthagena ; and Walpole was charged with thwarting and
starving the war. He still repelled the attacks of the " Patriots " Rcsigna-
with wonderful spirit ; but in a new Parliament his majority {y"i!}(r
dropped to sixteen, and in his own cabinet he became almost
powerless. The buoyant temper which had carried him through
so many storms broke down at last. " He who was asleep as soon
as his head touched the pillow," writes his son, " now never sleeps
above an hour without waking: and he who at dinner alwaj's
forgot his own anxieties, and was more gay and thoughtless than
all the company, now sits without speaking, and with his eyes
fixed for an hour together." The end was in fact near ; and in the
opening of 1742 the dwindling of his majority to three forced
Walpole to resign.
THE STATE LOTTERY.
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STATE LOTTERY, 1 739.
Contciitjiorary print in British Mnseujn.
CHAINED LIBRARY, FOUNDED 1715, AT ALL SAINTS CHURCH, HEREFORD,
Blades, "Bibliographical Miscellanies."
CHAPTER X
MODERN ENGLAND
Section I. — W^illiam Pitt, 1742 — 1762
\^Authorities. — Lord Stanhope and Horace Walpole, as before. Southey's
biography, or the more elaborate life by Mr. Tyerman, gives an account of
Wesley. For Pitt himself, the Chatham correspondence, his life by Thackeray,
and Lord Macaulay's two essays on him. The Annual Register begins with
1758; its earlier portion has been attributed to Burke. Carlyle's " Frederick
the Great " gives a picturesque account of the Seven Years' War. For Clive,
see the biography by Sir John Malcolm, and Lord Macaulay's essay.]
The fall of Walpole revealed a chanfrc in the tei"ni)cr of The
England which was to influence from that time to this its social ^^,1 the
and political history. New forces, new cravings, new aims, which Georges
had been silently gathering beneath the crust of inaction, began
i6o8
HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE
CHAP.
Sec. I
William
Pitt
1742
TO
1762
at last to tell on the national life. The stir showed itself markedly
in a religious re\i\ al which dates from the later years of Walpole's
ministr}'. Never had religion seemed at a lower ebb. The
progress of free inquir)', the aversion from theological strife which
had been left by the Civil Wars, the new political and material
channels opened to human energy, had produced a general
indifference to all questions of religious speculation or religious
life. The Church, predominant as its influence seemed at the
close of the Revolution,
had sunk into politi-
cal insignificance. The
bishops, who were now
chosen exclusivel}^ from
among the small num-
ber of Whig ecclesi-
astics, were left poli-
tically powerless by
the estrangement and
hatred of their clergy ;
while the clergy them-
selves, drawn by their
secret tendencies to
Jacobitism, stood sulk-
ily apart from any
active interference with
public affairs. The
prudence of the Wliig
statesmen aided to
maintain this ecclesi-
astical immobility. They were careful to avoid all that could
rouse into life the slumbering forces of bigotry and fanaticism.
When the Dissenters pressed for a repeal of the Test and
Corporation Acts, Walpole openly avowed his dread of awaking
the passions of religious hate by such a measure, and satisfied
them by an annual act of indemnity for any breach of these penal
statutes ; while a suspension of the meetings of Convocation
deprived the clergy of their natural centre of agitation and
opposition. Nor was this political inaction compensated by any
THE VICAR OF THE PARISH RECEIVING
TITHES.
Engra-img^ i793, after H. Singleton.
MODERN ENGLAND
1609
William
Pitt
1742
TO
1762
religious activity. A large number of prelates were mere Whig
partizans with no higher aim than that of promotion. The levees
of the Ministers were crowded with lawn sleeves. A Welsh bishop
avowed that he had seen his diocese but once, and habitually
resided at the lakes of Westmoreland. The system of pluralities
turned the wealthier and more learned of the priesthood into
absentees, while the bulk of them were indolent, poor and without
social consideration. A shrewd, if prejudiced, observer brands Reiig-ious
the English clergy 01 ence
the day as the most
lifeless in Europe, " the
most remiss of their
labours in private, and
the least severe in
their lives." There v/as
a revolt against re-
ligion and against
churches in both the
extremes of English
societ)-. In the higher
circles of society "every
one laughs," said Mon-
tesquieu on his visit
to England, " if one
talks of religion." Of
the prominent states-
men of the time the
greater part were un-
belieV'Crs in any form
of Christianity, and distinguished for the grossness and immor-
ality of their liv^cs. Drunkenness and foul talk were thought
no discredit to Walpolc. \ later prime minister, the Duke ot
Grafton, was in the habit of appearing with his mistress at the
play. Purity and fidelity to the marriage vow were sneered out of
fashion ; and Lord Chesterfield, in his letters to his son, instructs
him in the art of seduction as part of a polite education. Al the
other end of the social scale lay the masses of the poor. They
were ignorant and brutal to a degree which it is hard to conceive,
LKAlLMl' lllK TAKlSilI RtlUK.MNG 1-
DUTY.
Engraiiins, 1793, after H. Singleton.
i6io
HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE
CHAP.
Sec. 1
William
Pitt
1742
TO
1762
for the increase of population which followed on the growth of
towns and the developement of commerce had been met by no
effort for their religious or educational improvement. Not a new
parish had been created. Schools there were none, save the
grammar schools of Edward and Elizabeth, and some newly
readim; pi m_)k-huu>e.
Built 1727.
Coates, "History 0/ Reading.'
established " circulating schools " in Wales, for religious education.
The rural peasantry, who were fast being reduced to pauperism
by the abuse of the poor-laws, were left without much moral or
religious training of any sort. " We saw but one Bible in the
parish of Cheddar," said Hannah IMore at a far later time, " and
MODERN ENGLAND
i6i I
that was used to prop a flower-pot." Within the towns things sec. i
were worse. There was no effective police ; and in great outbreaks William
the mob of London or Birmingham burnt houses, flung open 1742
TO
prisons, and sacked and pillaged at their will. The criminal 1762
class gathered boldness and numbers in the face of ruthless laws
which only testified to the terror of society, laws which made it a
FROME SCHOOL (BUILT I720) AND BRIDGE.
Drawing in British Museum.
capital crime to cut down a cherry tree, and which strung up
twenty young thieves of a morning in front of Newgate ; while the
introduction of gin gave a new impetus to drunkenness, in the
streets of London at (jnc time gin-shops invited every passcr-l>\' to
get drunk for a penny, or dead drunk for twoi)encc.
In spite however of scenes such as this, iMTjiand rcin.iiiu'd at | '^.'-*
^ ... Rclif^ious
heart religious. In the midtlle class the old i'liiilan s[)irit lix'cd Revival
i6i
HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE
CHAP.
Sec. I
William
Put
1742
TO
1762
on unchanged, and it was from this class that a rcHgious revival
burst forth at the close of Walpole's administration, which changed
after a time the whole tone of English society. The Church was
restored to life and activit}'. Religion carried to the hearts of the
people a fresh spirit of moral zeal, while it purified our literature
and our manners. A new philanthropy reformed our prisons,
DEAN BERKELEY, HJS WIFE, AND FELLOW MISSIONARIES.
Picture by J. Siitybert, at Yale College, Rhode Island.
The
Met hod is Is
infused clcmcnc)' and wisdom into our penal laws, abolished the
slave trade, and gave the first impulse to popular education. The
revival began in a small knot of Oxford students, whose revolt
against the religious deadness of their times showed itself in
ascetic observances, an enthusiastic devotion, ^and a methodical
regularity of life which gained them the nickname of " Methodists."
Three figures detached themselves from the group as soon as, on
MODERN ENGLAND
1613
its transfer to London in 1738, it attracted public attention by the
fervour and even extravagance of its piety ; and each found his
special work in the task to which the instinct of the new move-
ment led it from the first, that of carrying religion and morality
to the vast masses of population which lay concentrated in the
towns, or around the mines and collieries of Cornwall and the
north. W'hitefield, a servitor of Pembroke College, was above all
Sec. 1
William
Pitt
1742
TO
1762
IVhite-
Jield
GKOKGK VVHITEFIELD.
Picture by Nathaniel Hone.
the preacher of the revival. Speech was governing English
politics ; and the religious i)Ower of speech was shown when a
dread of "enthusiasm" closed against the new apostles the pulpits
of the ICstablished Church, and forced tliein Yo jireacli in the
fields. Their voice was soon heard in the wildest and most
barbarous corners of the land, among the l)leak moors of Northum-
berland, or in the dens of London, or in the long galleries wIutc
i6i4 HISTORY OF '1"HE KXOLISH PEOPLE chm-
Sec. I in the pauses of his labour the Cornish miner listens to the sobbing
wn.LiAM of the sea. Whitcficld's preaching was such as England had
1742 never heard before, theatrical, extravagant, often commonplace, but
TO
1762 hushing all criticism by its intense reality, its earnestness of belief,
its deep tremulous sympathy with the sin and sorrow of mankind.
It was no common enthusiast who could wring gold from the
close-fisted Franklin and admiration from the fastidious Horace
Walpole, or who could look down from the top of a green knoll
at Kingswood on twenty thousand colliers, grimy from the Bristol
coal-pits, and see as he preached the tears " making white channels
down their blackened checks." On the rough and ignorant masses
to whom they spoke the effect of Whitefield and his fellow
Methodists w^as mighty both for good and ill. Their preaching
stirred a passionate hatred in their opponents. Their lives were
often in danger, the\' were mobbed, they were ducked, the\- were
stoned, they were smothered with filth. But the enthusiasm they
aroused was equally passionate. Women fell down in convulsions ;
strong men were smitten suddenly to the earth ; the preacher was
interrupted by bursts of hysteric laughter or of hysteric sobbing.
All the phenomena of strong spiritual excitement, so familiar now,
but at that time strange and unknown, followed on their sermons ;
and the terrible sense of a conviction of sin, a new dread of hell, a
new hope of heaven, took forms at once grotesque and sublime.
Charles Charles Wesley, a Christ Church student, came to add sweetness
^^^■^ to this sudden and startling light. He was the " sweet singer" of
the movement. PI is hymns expressed the fiery conviction of its
converts in lines so chaste and beautiful that its more extravagant
features disappeared. The wild throes of hysteric enthusiasm
passed into a passion for hymn-singing, and a new musical impulse
was aroused in the people which gradually changed the face of
public devotion throughout England.
John But it was his elder brother, John Wesley, who embodied in him-
Wesley ggif ^^^ ^j^jg qj. y^^^^ gj^j^ ^^ ^|^^ j^^^^. ^novement, but the movement
itself. Even at Oxford, where he resided as a fellow of Lincoln,
he had been looked upon as head of the group of Methodists,
and after his return from a quixotic mission to the Indians of
Georgia he again took the lead of the little society, which had
removed in the interval to London. In power as a preacher he
MODERN ENGLAND
stood next to Whitefield ; as a hymn-writer he stood second to
his brother Charles. But while combining" in some degree the
excellences of either, he possessed qualities in which both were
utterly deficient ; an indefatigable industry, a cool judgement, a
command over others, a faculty of organization, a singular union of
patience and moderation with an imperious ambition, which marked
1615
Sec. 1
William
PiTr
1742
TO
1762
JOHN WESLEY.
Pictit7e by William Hamillon.
him as a ruler of men. lie had besides a learning and skill in
writing which no other of the Methodists possessed ; he was older
than any of his colleagues at the start of the movement, and he out-
lived them all. 11 is life indeed almost covers the centur>', and
the Methodist bo(i\- li.ul passed through e\ciy phase of its histor)' ,-oj 1791
before he sank into the grave at the age of eighty-eight. It would
ha\'e been impossible for Wesley to have wielded the power he did
i6i6 HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE chap.
Sec. I had he not shared the folHes and cxtravaj^ance as well as the
William cntliusiasm of liis disciules. Throu<j:hout his life his asceticism was
Pitt ^ '^
1742 that of a monk. At times he lived on bread only, and he often
1762 slept on the bare boards. He lived in a world of wonders and
divine interpositions. It was a miracle if the rain stopped and
allowed him to set forward on a journey. It was a judgement of
Heaven if a hailstorm burst over a town which had been deaf to
his preaching. One day, he tells us, when he was tired and his
horse fell lame, " I thought — cannot God heal either man or beast
b)' any means or without any i* — immediately my headache ceased
and my horse's lam.eness in the same instant." With a still more
childish fanaticism he guided his conduct, whether in ordinary
events or in the great crises of his life, by drawing lots or watching
the particular texts at which his Bible opened. But with all this
extravagance and superstition, Wesley's mind was essentially
practical, orderly, and conservative. No man ever stood at the
head of a great revolution whose temper was so anti-revolutionary.
In his earlier days the bishops had been forced to rebuke him for
the narrowness and intolerance of his churchmanship. When
W'hitefield began his sermons in the fields, W^esley " could not at
first reconcile himself to that strange way." He condemned and
fought against the admission of laymen as preachers till he found
himself left with none but laymen to preach. To the last he clung
passionately to the Church of England, and looked on the body he
had formed as but a lay society in full communion with it. He
broke with the Moravians, who had been the earliest friends of the
new movement, when they endangered its safe conduct b}- their
contempt of religious forms. He broke with Whitefield when the
great preacher plunged into an extravagant Calvinism. But the same
practical temper of mind which led him to reject what was un-
measured, and to be the last to adopt what was new, enabled him
at once to grasp and organize the novelties he adopted. He
became himself the most unwearied of field preachers, and his
journal for half a century is little more than a record of fresh
journeys and fresh sermons. When once driven to employ lay
helpers in his ministry he made their work a new and attractive
feature in his system. His earlier asceticism only lingered in a dread
of social enjoyments and an aversion from the gayer and sunnier
MODERN ENGLAND
1617
TO
1762
side of life which Hnks the Methodist movement with that of the Sec. i
Puritans. As the fervour of his superstition died down into the ^Vll.LIAM
1 Pitt
calm of age, his cool common sense discouraged in his followers the 1742
enthusiastic outbursts which marked the opening of the revival.
His powers were bent to the building up of a great religious societ}'
which might give to the new enthusiasm a lasting and practical
form. The ^Methodists were grouped into classes, gathered in love-
feasts, purified by the expulsion of unworthy members, and
SCHOOL.
Early Eighteenth Century.
After P. Mercier.
furnished with an alternation of settled ministers and wandering
preachers ; while the whole body was placed under the absolute
government of a Conference of ministers. But so long as he lived,
the direction of the new religious society remained with Wesley
alone. " If by arbitrary power," he replied with charming
simplicity to objectors, "you mean a power which 1 exercise
simply without any colleagues therein, this is certain])- true, but
I see no hurt in it."
The great body which he tlius founded numbered a hundred
i6i8
HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE
CHAP.
Sec. I
Wl I- I.I AM
Pitt
1742
TO
1762
The New
Philan-
thropy
thousand members at his dcatli, and nou^ counts its members in
England and America by milHons. But the Methodists themselves
were the least result of the Methodist revival. Its action upon the
Church broke the lethargy of the clergy ; and the " Evangelical "
movement, \\liich found representa.tives like Newton and Cecil
within the pale of the
Establishment, made
the fox-hunting parson
and the absentee rector
at last impossible. In
Walpolc's day the Eng-
lish clergy were the
idlest and most lifeless
in the world. In our
own time no body of
religious ministers sur-
passes them in pict\', in
philanthropic energy, or
in popular regard. In
the nation at large ap-
peared a new moral
enthusiasm which, rigid
and pedantic as it of-
ten seemed, was still
healthy in its social
tone, and whose power
was seen in the dis-
appearance of the
profligacy which had
disgraced the upper
classes, and the foulness
which had infested
literature, ever since
the Restoration. A yet nobler result of the religious revival
was the steady attempt, which has never ceased from that day
to this, to remedy the guilt, the ignorance, the physical suffer-
ing, the social degradation of the profligate and the poor. It
was not till the Wesleyan impulse had done its work that this
SAMUEL JOHNSON.
Front an engraving by Finden.
MODERN ENGLAND 1619
philanthropic impulse began. The Sunday Schools established sec. i
by Mr. Raikes of Gloucester at the close of the centurv were the William
Pitt
beginnings of popular education. By writings and by her own 1742
personal example Hannah More drew the sympathy of England to 1762
the poverty and crime of the agricultural labourer. A passionate
impulse of human s}-mpathy with the wronged and afflicted raised
HANNAH MORE.
Picture by Opic, 1786.
hospitals, endowed charities, built churches, sent missionaries to
the heathen, supported Burke in liis plea for the Hindoo, and
Clarkson and Wilberforce in their crusade against the ini([uit\' of
the slave-trade. It is only the moral chivalry of his labours that
amongst a crowd of jjliilantliropists draws us most, perhaps, to the
work and character of John Howard. The .s)'mpathy which all
were feeling for the sufferings of manlcind he felt for the sufferings
Vol.. iv—Pakt 35 5 M
1020
HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE
CHAP.
Sec. 1
William
Pitt
1742
TO
1762
John
HoTvard
of the worst and most hapless of men. With wonderful ardour
and perseverance he devoted himself to the cause of the debtor, the
felon, and the murderer. .\n appointment to the office of High
Sheriff of Bedfordshire in 1774 drew his attention to the state of the
prisons which were placed under his care ; and from that time the
quiet country gentleman, whose only occupation had been reading
his Bible and stud)-ing his thermometer, became the most energetic
and zealous of
reformers. l^e-
fore a year was
over he had per-
sonally visited
almost every
English gaol,
and he found in
nearly all of
them frightful
abuses which
had been no-
ticed half a cen-
tur}' before, but
left unredressed
by Parliament.
Gaolers who
bought their
places were paid
by fees, and suf-
fered to extort
what they could.
Even when ac-
quitted, men were dragged back to their cells for want of funds
to discharge the sums they owed to their keepers. Debtors
and felons were huddled together in the prisons which Howard
found crowded by the cruel legislation of the day. No separa-
tion was preserved between different sexes, no criminal dis-
cipline enforced. Every gaol was a chaos of cruelty and the
foulest immorality, from which the prisoner could onh' escape by
sheer starvation, or through the gaol-fever that festered without
JOHN iluWAkD.
Picture hy ISIatker Brown, in National Portrait Gallery.
X MODERN ENGLAND 162 1
ceasing in these haunts of wretchedness. Howard saw everything sec. i
with his own eyes, he tested every suffering by his own experience. William
In one gaol he found a cell so narrow and noisome that the poor 1742
TO
wretch who inhabited it begged as a mercy for hanging. Howard 1762
shut himself up in the cell and bore its darkness and foulness till
nature could bear no more. It was by work of this sort, and by
the faithful pictures of such scenes which it enabled him to give,
that he brought about their reform. The book in which he re-
corded his terrible experience, and the plans which he submitted
for the reformation of criminals made him the father, so far as
England is concerned, of prison discipline. But his labours were
far from being confined to England. In journey after journey he
visited the gaols of Holland and Germany, till his longing to dis-
cover some means of checking the fatal progress of the plague led
him to examine the lazarettos of Europe and the East. He was
still engaged in this work of charity when he was seized by a
malignant fever at Cherson in Southern Russia, and " laid quietly
in the earth," as he desired.
While the revival of the Wesleys was stirring the very heart Carteret
of England, its political stagnation was unbroken. The fall of
Walpole made no change in English policy, at home or abroad.
The bulk of his ministry, who had opposed him in his later years of
office, resumed their posts, simply admitting some of the more promin-
ent members of opposition, and giving the control of foreign affairs
to Lord Carteret, a man of great power, and skilled in continental
affairs. Carteret mainly followed the system of his predecessor. It
was in the union of Austria and Prussia that he looked for the England
means of destroying the hold France had now established in A^u'stria
Germany by the election of her puppet, Charles of Bavaria, as
Emperor ; and the pressure of England, aided by a victory of
Frederick at Chotusitz, forced Maria Theresa to consent to
Walpolc's plan of a peace with Prussia at Breslau on the terms of
the cession of Silesia. The peace enabled the Austrian army to
drive the T^rench from Bohemia at the close of 1742 ; an luiglish
fleet blockaded Cadiz, and another anchored in the bay of Naples
and forced Don Carlos by a threat of bombarding his capital to
conclude a treaty of neutrality, while luiglish subsidies detached
Sardinia from the French alliance. Unfortunately Carteret and the
5 .\l z
l622
HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE
CHAP.
Sec. 1
William
Pitt
1742
TO
1762
Court of Vienna now determined not only to set up the Pragmatic
Sanction, but to undo the P^'cnch encroachments of 1736. Naples
and Sicily were to be taken back from their Si)anish King, Elsass
and Lorraine from P^-ance ; and the imperial dignity w^as to be
restored to the Austrian House. To carry out these schemes an
Austrian army drov^e the Emperor from Bavaria in the spring of
1743 ; while George the Second, who warmly supported Carteret's
policy, put himself at the head of a force of 40,000 men, the bulk
of whom were English and Hanoverians, and marched from the
Netherlands to the
Main. PI is advance
was checked and
finally turned into a
retreat by the Due
de Noaillcs, who ap-
peared with a su-
perior army on the
south bank of the
river, and finally
throwing 31,000 men
across it, threatened
to compel the King
to surrender. In the
battle of Dettingen
which followed, how-
ever, not only was
the allied arm}- saved
from destruction by
the impetuosity of
Dettingen the French horse and the dogged obstinacy with which the English
Jxmezj, held their ground, but their opponents were forced to recross the
Main. Small as was the victory, it produced amazing results.
The French evacuated Germany. The English and Austrian
armies appeared on the Rhine ; and a league between England,
Prussia, and the Queen of Hungary, seemed all that was needed to
secure the results already gained.
Fontenoy But the prospect of peace was overthrown by the ambition of
the House of Austria. In the spring of 1744 an Austrian army
MEDAL COMMEMORATING BATTLE OF DETTINGEX.
(Obverse.)
MODERN ENGLAND
1623
marched upon Naples, with the purpose of transferring it after its Sec. i
conquest to the Bavarian Emperor, whose hereditary dominions in William
Pitt
Bavaria were to pass in return to Maria Theresa. If however 1742
Frederick had withdrawn from the war on the cession of Silesia, he 1762
was resolute to take up arms again rather than suffer so great an
Aggrandisement of the House of Austria in Germany. His sudden
alliance with France failed at first to change the course of the war ;
for though he was successful in seizing Prague and drawing the
Austrian army from the Rhine, Frederick was driven from
Bohemia, while the
death of the Em-
peror forced Bavaria
to lay down its arms
and to ally itself
with ]\Iaria Theresa.
So high were the
Queen's hopes at
this moment that
she formed a secret
alliance with Russia
for the division of
the Prussian monar-
chy. But in 1745
the tide turned, and
the fatal results of
Carteret's weakness
in assenting to the
change from a war
of defence into one
of attack became manifest. The French King, Lewis the
Fifteenth, led an army into the Netherlands ; and the refusal of
Holland to act against him left their defence wholly in the hands
of England. The general anger at this widening of the war proved
fatal to Carteret, or, as he now became, I'2arl Granville. I! is
imperious temper had rendered him odious to his colleagues, and
he was driven from office by the Duke of Newcastle ami his
brother Henry Pelham. (Jf the reconstituted iniiiislry which
followed Henry Pelham became the head. 1 1 is teni[)er, as well as
.MEDAL CO.M.ME.MORATING BATTLE OF DETTINGEN.
(Reverse.)
1624
HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE
CHAP.
Sec. I
William
Pitt
1742
TO
1762
The
Pclhain
Ministry
1745
Charles
Edward
Stuart
Preston
Pans
1745
a consciousness of his own mediocrity, disposed him to a policy of
conciliation which reunited the Whigs. Chesterfield and the
Whigs in opposition, with Pitt and " the Boys," all found room in
the new administration ; and even a few Tories found admittance.
The bulk of the Whigs were true to Walpole's policy ; and it was
to pave the way to an accommodation with Frederick and a close
of the war that the Pelhams forced Carteret to resign. But their
attention had first to be given to the war in Flanders, where Mar-
shal Saxe had established the superiority of the French army by
his defeat of the Duke of Cumberland. Advancing to the relief of
Tournay with a force of English, Hanoverians, and Dutch — for
Holland had at last been dragged into the war — the Duke on the
31st of May 1745 found the French covered by a line of fortified
villages and redoubts with but a single narrow gap near the hamlet
of Fonteno)'. Into this gap, however, the English troops, formed
in a dense column, doggedly thrust themselves in spite of a terrible
fire ; but at the moment when the day seemed won the French
guns, rapidly concentrated in their front, tore the column in pieces
and drove it back in a slow and orderly retreat. The blow was
quickly followed up in June by a victory of Frederick at Hohen-
friedburg which drove the Austrians from Silesia, and by a landing
of a Stuart on the coast of Scotland at the close of July.
The war with France had at once revived the hopes of the
Jacobites ; and as early as 1744 Charles Edward, the grandson of
James the Second, was placed by the French Government at the
head of a formidable armament. But his plan of a descent on
Scotland was defeated by a storm which wrecked his fleet, and by
the march of the French troops which had sailed in it to the war
in Flanders. In 1745, howev^er, the young adventurer again
embarked with but seven friends in a small vessel and landed on a
little island of the Hebrides. For three weeks he stood almost
alone ; but on the 29th of August the clans rallied to his standard
in Glenfinnan, and Charles found himself at the head of fifteen
hundred men. His force swelled to an army as he marched
through Blair Athol on Perth, entered Edinburgh in triumph, and
proclaimed " James the P^ighth " at the Town Cross : and two
thousand English troops who marched against him under Sir John
Cope were broken and cut to pieces on the 21st of September by a
MODERN ENGLAND
1625
single charge of the clansmen at Preston Pans. Victory at once
doubled the forces of the conqueror. The Prince was now at the
head of six thousand men ; but all were still Highlanders, for the
people of the Lowlands held aloof from his standard, and it was
with the utmost difficulty that he could induce them to follow him
to the south. His tact and energy however at last conquered ev'er)^
obstacle, and after skilfull}- evading an army gathered at New-
castle he marched through Lanca-
shire, and pushed on the 4th of
December as far as Derby. But here
all hope of success came to an end.
Hardly a man had risen in his sup-
port as he passed through the dis-
tricts where Jacobitism boasted of its
strength. The people flocked to sec
his march as if to see a show. Catho-
lics and Tories abounded in Lanca-
shire, but onl\- a single squire took
up arms. ^Manchester was looked
on as the most Jacobite of English
towns, but all the aid it gave was
an illumination and two thousand
pounds. From Carlisle to Derby he
had been joined by hardly two
hundred men. The policy of Wal-
pole had in fact secured England
for the House of Hanover. The
long peace, the prosperity of the
country, and the clemency of the
Government, had done their work.
The recent admission of Tories into the administration had
severed the Tory party finally from the mere Jacobites. Jaco-
bitism as a fighting force was dead, and even Charles Edward
saw that it was hopeless to conquer England with five thousanil
Highlanders. He soon learned too that forces of double his
own strength were closing on cither side of him, while a
third army under the King and Lord Stair coxnvd London.
Scotland itself, now that the Highlanders were awa_\ , iiuietly
riPER I.N' HIGHLAND REGIMENT.
C/t'Si-, ^* Military Antiquities."
Sfc. I
William
Pitt
1742
TO
1762
1626
HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE
CHAP.
Sec. I
William
Pitt
1742
TO
1762
CiiUoden
Moor
renewed in all the districts of the Lowlands its allegiance to the
House of Hanover. Even in the Highlands the Maclcods rose in
arms for King George, while the Gordons refused to stir, though
roused by a small h'rcnch Anxc which landed at Montrose. To
advance further south was impossible, and Charles fell rapidly back
on Glasgow ; but the reinforcements which he found there raised
his army to nine
thousand men,
and on the 23rd
Januar\-, 1746,
he boldly at-
tacked an Eng-
lish army under
General Hawley
which had fol-
lowed his retreat
and had en-
camped near
Falkirk. Again
the wild charge
of his Highland-
ers won victory
for the Prince,
but victory was
as fatal as de-
feat. The bulk
of his forces dis-
persed with their
booty to the
mountains, and
Charles fell sullenly back to the north before the Duke of Cumber-
land. On the 1 6th of April the armies faced one another on Cul-
loden Moor, a few miles eastward of Inverness. The Highlanders
still numbered six thousand men, but they were starving and dis-
pirited, while Cumberland's force was nearly double that of the
Prince. Torn b\- the Duke's guns, the clansmen flung themselves
in their old fashion on the English front ; but they were received
with a terrible fire of musketry, and the few that broke through the
SOLDII rs 1\ HI HI \ I KIGIMLM
Ciosi, "Mi/ilD^ liii juitus '
MODERN ENGLAND
1627
first line found themselves fronted by a second. In a few moments sec. i
all was over, and the Stuart force was a mass of hunted fugitives. '^^'jj-^'j.'A^'
Charles himself after strange adventures escaped to France. In 1742
TO
England fifty of his followers were hanged ; three Scotch lords, 1762
Lovat, Balmerino, and Kilmarnock, brought to the block ; and forty Conquest
persons of rank attainted by Act of Parliament. More extensive "fji^k.
measures of repression were needful in the Highlands. The feudal '''^'"^■^
tenures were abolished. The hereditary jurisdictions of the chiefs
were bought up and transferred to the Crown. The tartan, or
garb of the Highlanders, was forbidden by law. These measures,
followed by a general Act of Indemnity, proved effective for their
purpose. The dread of the clansmen passed away, and the
MEDAL TO COM.MEMORATE THE VICTORY AT CLL1.< )I)I..\.
Sheriff's writ soon ran through the Highlands with as little
resistance as in the streets of Edinburgh.
Defeat abroad and danger at home only quickened the resolve Peace of
of the Pelhams to bring the war with Prussia to an end. When chapelle
England was threatened by a Catholic Pretender, it was no time
for weakening the chief Protestant power in Germany. On the
refusal of Maria Theresa to join in a general peace, England "745
concluded the Convention of Hanover with Prussia, and withdrew
so far as Germany was concerned from the war. l-'lscwhero
however the contest lingered on. The victories of M.iria Theresa
in Italy were balanced by those (jf l"'rancc in llic Xdhc rlands,
where Marshal Saxe inflicted new defeats on th<- I'ji-.h'^h and
1628
HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE
CHAP.
Sec. 1
William
Pitt
1742
TO
1762
1748
Dutch at Roucoux and Lauffcld. The danger of Holland and the
financial exhaustion of France at last brought about the conclusion
of a peace at Aix-la-Chapelle, b)- which England surrendered its
gains at sea, and France its conquests on land. But the peace was
a mere pause in the struggle, during which both parties hoped to
gain strength for a mightier contest which they saw impending.
The war was in fact widening far beyond the bounds of German)-
or of Europe. It was becoming a world-wide duel which was to
settle the destinies of mankind. Already France was claiming
I(jKT WILLIAM.
Priiil in British Museum.
Clive
the valleys of the Ohio and the Mississippi, and mooting the great
question whether the fortunes of the New World were to be
moulded by Frenchmen or Englishmen. Already too French
adventurers were driving English merchants from Madras, and
building up, as they trusted, a power which was to add India to the
dominions of France.
The early intercourse of England with India gave little
promise of the great fortunes which awaited it. It was not till the
close of Elizabeth's reign, a century after Vasco da Gama had
crept round the Cape of Good Hope and founded the Portuguese
X MODERN ENGLAND 1629
settlement on the Goa coast, that an East India Company was Sec. i
estabhshed in London. The trade, profitable as it was, remained William
'■ ' Pitt
small in extent ; and the three earl\- factories of the Companj- 1742
were only gradually acquired during the century which followed. 1762
The first, that of Madras, consisted of but six fishermen's houses
beneath Fort St. George ; that of Bomba)^ was ceded by the
Portuguese as part of the dowr}- of Catharine of Braganza ; while
Fort William, with the mean village which has since grown into
Calcutta, owes its origin to the reign of William the Third. Each
of these forts was built simply for the protection of the Company's
warehouses, and guarded by a few " sepahis," sepoys, or paid
native soldiers ; while the clerks and traders of each establishment
were under the direction of a President and a Council. One of
these clerks in the middle of the eighteenth century was Robert
Clive, the son of a small proprietor near Market Dra^-ton in
Shropshire, an idle dare-devil of a boy whom his friends had been
glad to get rid of by packing him off in the Company's service as
a writer to ^Madras. His early days there were days of wretched-
ness and despair. He was poor and cut off from his fellows by
the haughty shyness of his temper, weary of desk-work, and
haunted by home-sickness. Twice he attempted suicide ; and it
was only on the failure of his second attempt that he flung down
the pistol which baffled him with a conviction that he was reserved
for higher things.
A change came at last in the shape of war and captivit)-. As Dupleix
soon as the war of the Austrian Succession broke out, the
superiority of the French in power and influence tempted them to
expel the English from India. Labourdonnais, the governor of
the French colony of the Mauritius, besieged Madras, razed it to 1746
the ground, and carried its clerks and merchants i)risoncrs to
Pondicherr}-. Clive was among these captives, but he escaped in
disguise, and returning to the settlement, threw aside his clerkship
for an ensign's commission in the force which the Compaii)'
was busily raising. TV^r the capture of Madras had not only
established the repute of the l^Vench arms, but had roused
Dupleix, the governor of Pondicherr\', to conceive plans for the
creation of a l-'rcnch cnipire in India. When tin- I'jiL;lish
merchants of hJizabclh'-i da)' brou;_;hl thcii- goods to .Siir.it, all
CHAP. X MODERN ENGLAND 1631
India, save the south, had just been brought for the first time Sec. i
under the rule of a single great power b}' the Mogul Emperors of '''''^^^^^''^
the line of Akbar. But with the death of Aurungzebe, in the 1742
TO
reign of Anne, the Mogul Empire fell fast into decay. A line of 1762
feudal princes raised themselves to independence in Rajpootana.
The lieutenants of the Emperor founded separate sovereignties at
Lucknow and Hyderabad, in the Carnatic, and in Bengal. The
plain of the Upper Indus was occupied by a race of religious
fanatics called the Sikhs. Persian and Affghan invaders crossed
the Indus, and succeeded even in sacking Delhi, the capital of the
Moguls. Clans of systematic plunderers, who were known under
the name of Mahrattas, and who were in fact the natives whom
conquest had long held in subjection, poured down from the
highlands along the western coast, ravaged as far as Calcutta and
Tanjore, and finally set up independent states at Poonah and
Gwalior. Dupleix skilfully availed himself of the disorder around
him. He offered his aid to the P^mperor against the rebels and
invaders who had reduced his power to a shadow ; and it was in
the Emperor's name that he meddled with the quarrels of the
states of Central and Southern India, made himself virtually
master of the Court of H)-derabad, and seated a creature of his
own on the throne of the Carnatic. Trichinopoly, the one town
which held out against this Nabob of the Carnatic, was all but
brought to surrender when Clive, in 1751, came forward with a
daring scheme for its relief With a few hundred English and
sepoys he pushed through a thunderstorm to the surprise of Arcot, Arcof
the Nabob's capital, entrenched himself in its enormous fort, and
held it for fifty days against thousands of assailants. Moved by
his gallantry, the Mahrattas, who had never bclic\-cd that
Englishmen would fight before, advanced and broke up the siege ;
but Clive was no sooner freed than he showed equal vigour in the
field. At the head of raw recruits who ran away at the first sound
of a gun. and scpo)-s who hid themselves as soon as the cannon
opened fire, he twice attacked and defeated the P'rcnch and their
Indian allies, foiled every effort of Dupleix, and razed to llic
ground a pompous pillar which the P^-ench gONcrnor had set uj) in
honour of his earlier \ictories.
Clive was recalled b\- broken health to P-it'LukI, ami the
l6X2
HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE
CHAP,
Sec. 1
William
Pitt
1742
It)
1762
The
American
Colonies
il^^lMf^itii^ Hf^Cfsbtrt ^fu^rre j^la,ttes^
fortunes of the struggle in India were left for detision to a later
day. But while France was .struggling for the FLmpire of the
East she was stri\ing with even more apparent success for the
command of the new world of the West. Populous as they had
become, the English settlements in America still lay mainly along
the sea-board of
the Atlantic ; for
only a few explor-
ing" parties had
penetrated into the
Alleghanies before
the Seven Years'
War ; and Indian
tribes wandered
unquestioned
along the lakes.
It was not till the
peace of Aix-la-
Chapelle that the
pretensions of
France drew the
e}'es of the colon-
ists and of Eng-
lish statesmen to
the interior of the
Western Conti-
nent. Planted
firml\- in Louis-
iana and Canada,
V ranee openly
claimed the whole
country west of
the Alleghanies
as its own, and its governors now ordered all English settlers
or merchants to be driven from the valleys of Ohio or Missis-
sippi which were still in the hands of Indian tribes. Even
the inactive Pelham revolted from pretensions such as these.
The original French settlers were driven from Acadia or Nova
.\ FKE.NCH C.\.\AD1.A.\.
BacqncvilU de la Polherie, " Histoire de I' Aiiicriqiic
Septititrionale,' 1722.
MODERN ENGLAND
^^33
Scotia, and an English colony founded the settlement of Halifax. Sec. i
An Ohio Company was formed, and its agents made their way to wiluam
the valleys of that river and the Kentucky ; while envoys from 1742
Virginia and Pennsylvania drew closer the alliance between their 1762
colonies and the Indian tribes across the mountains. Nor were
the French slow to accept the challenge. Fighting began in
Acadia. A vessel of war appeared in Ontario, and Niagara was
turned into a fort. A force of 1,200 men despatched to Erie drove
ILE STE. CROIX, EARLIEST FRENCH SETTLEMENT IN ACADIA, 1604.
Champlain, " Voyages" 16 13.
the few English settlers from their little colony on the fork of the
Ohio, and founded there a fort called Duquesne, on the site of the
later Pittsburg. The fort at once gave this force command of
the river valley. After a fruitless attack on it under George
Washington, a young Virginian, the colonists were forced to
withdraw over the mountains, and the whole of the west was left
in the hands of France. The bulk of the Indian tribes from
Canada as far as the Mississipi)i attached themselves t<j the I'lvnch
cause, and the value of their aid was shown in 1755. wIh-ii (Icncral
1 634 HISTORY OF .THE ENGLISH PEOPLE chap.
Sec. I Bracldock led a force of English soldiers and American militia to
William an attack upon l-'ort Duquesne. The force was utterly routed
1742 and Braddock slain. The Marquis of Montcalm, who in 1756
TO ,
1762 commanded the French forces m Canada, was gifted with singular
Rout of powers of administration. He carried out with even more zeal
than his predecessor the plans of annexation ; and the three forts
of Duquesne on the Ohio, of Niagara on the St. Lawrence, and of
Ticonderoga on Lake Champlain, were linked together by a chain
of lesser forts, which cut off the English colonists from all access
to the west. The defeat of Braddock had already roused England
to its danger, for it was certain that war in America would be
followed by war in Europe, The ministers looked on a league
with Prussia as the only means of checking France ; but Frederick
held cautiously aloof, while the advances of England to Prussia
only served to alienate Maria Theresa, whose one desire was to
regain Silesia. The two powers of the House of Bourbon were
still bound b}' the P^amily Compact ; and as early as 1752 Maria
Theresa by a startling change of policy drew to their alliance. The
jealousy which Russia entertained of the growth of a strong power
in North Germany brought the Czarina Elizabeth to promise aid to
the schemes of the Queen of Hungary ; and in 1755 the league of
the four powers and of Saxony was practically completed. So
secret were these negotiations that they remained unknown to
Henry Pelham and to his brother the Duke of Newcastle, who
succeeded him on his death in 1754 as the head of the Ministry.
But they were detected from the first by the keen eye of Frederick
of Prussia, who saw himself fronted by a line of foes that stretched
from Paris to St. Petersburg.
The The danger to England was hardly less ; for France appeared
Seven
Years' again on the stage with a vigour and audacity which recalled the
^^ days of Lewis the Fourteenth. The weakness and corruption of
the French government were screened for a time by the daring and
scope of its plans, as by the ability of the agents it found to carry
them out. In England, on the contrary, all was vagueness and
1755 indecision. It was not till the close of the year that a treaty was
at last concluded with the Prussian King. With this treaty
between England and Frederick began the Seven Years' War. No
war has had greater results on the historv of the world or broueht
MODERN ENGLAND
i6-
Pitt
1742
TO
1762
greater triumphs to England ; but few have had more disastrous Sec. i
beginnings. Newcastle was too weak and ignorant to rule without ^^'U-.'i':*-"
aid, and yet too greed}- of power to purchase aid by sharing it with
more capable men. His preparations for the gigantic struggle be-
fore him may be guessed from the fact that there were but three
regiments fit for service in England at the opening of 1756.
France, on the other hand, was quick in her attack. Port Mahon
in Minorca, the key of the Mediterranean, was besieged by the
FREDERICK II., KING OF PRUSSIA AND ELECTOR OF BRANDENBURG.
From an engraving in the Bibliothequc Nationale, Paris.
Duke of Richelieu and forced to capitulate. To complete the
shame of England, a fleet sent to its relief under Admiral Byng
retreated before the French. In German)- Frederick seized
Dresden at the outset of the war and forced the Saxon arm)' to
surrender, and in 1757 a victory at Prague made him master for a
while of Bohemia ; but his success was transient, and a defeat at
Kolin drove him to retreat again into Saxony. In the same )car
the Duke of Cumberland, wluj had taken post on the WCscr with
an army of fifty thousand men fjr the defence of liaiKAc-r, Idl
Vol. IV— Part 35 5 -"^
^^-^*" ---'^
CHAP. X
MODERN ENGLAND
1637
back before a French army to the mouth of the Elbe, and engaged
by the Convention of Closter-Seven to disband his forces. In
America things went even v/orse than in German}-. The inactivity
of the EngHsh generals was contrasted with the genius and activity
of Montcalm. Already masters of the Ohio by the defeat of Brad-
dock, the French drove the English garrison from the forts v.'hich
commanded Lake Ontario and Lake Champlain, and their empire
stretched without a break over the vast territory from Louisiana to
the St. Lawrence. A despondenc}' without parallel in our history
took possession of our coolest statesmen, and even the impassive
Chesterfield cried in despair, "We are no longer a nation."
But the nation of which Chesterfield despaired was really on
the eve of its greatest triumphs, and the miserable incapacity of
the Duke of Newcastle only called to the front the genius of
William Pitt. Pitt was the grandson of a wealthy governor of
Madras, who had entered Parliament in 1735 as member for one
of his father's pocket boroughs, and had headed the younger
'■ patriots " in their attack on Walpole. The dismissal from the
arm}- b}- which Walpole met his attacks turned his energy wholh-
to politics. His fiery spirit was hushed in office during the " broad-
bottom administration" which followed Walpole's fall, but after
the death of Henry Pelham, Newcastle's jealousy of power threw
him into an attitude of opposition and he was deprived of his place.
When the disasters of the war however drove Newcastle from
office in November 1756, Pitt became Secretary of State: but in
four months the enmity of the King and of Newcastle's party
dro\e him to resign. In July 1757, however, it was necessary to
recall him. The failure of Newcastle to construct an administration
forced the Duke to a junction with his rival ; and fortunately for
their country, the character of the two statesmen made the com-
promise an easy one. I"or all that Pitt coveted, for the general
direction of public affairs, the control of foreign policy, the adminis-
tration of the war, Newcastle had neither capacity nor inclination.
On the other hand, his skill in parliamentary management was un-
rivalled. If he knew little else, he knew better than an}- living
man the price of every member and the intrigues of every borough.
What he cared for was not the control of affairs, but the distribu-
tion of patronage and the work of corruption, and fii>m ihi'^ I'itl
5 N ^
Sec. 1
William
Pitt
1742
TO
1762
1756
William
Pitt
A'c7iicasf/c
ant/ Pitt
CHAP. X
MODERN ENGLAND
1639
turned disdainfully away. " Mr. Pitt docs everything," wrote Sec. i
ILLIAM
Pitt
Horace Walpole, ''and the Duke gives everything. So long as thc}^ "^^'
1742
To
1762
WILLIAM ITn, I'AV.MASTLR OF HIE fOKCKS.
PictiiTC by Hoarc.
agree in this partition they may do what they plca.sc." Out of the
union of these two strangely-contrasted leaders, in fact, rose the
greatest, as it was the last, of the purely Whig administrations. lUit
1640 HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE chap.
Sec. I its real power la\- from bcgintiini;" to end in Pitt himself. Poor as he
\ViLLi.\M was, for his income was little more than two hundred a year, and
p,,.^ ....
1742 springing as he did from a family of no political importance, it was
1762 by sheer dint of genius that the young cornet of horse, at whose
youth and inexperience Walpole had sneered, seized a power which
the Whig houses had ever since the Revolution kept jealously in
their grasp. His ambition had no petty aim. " I want to call
England," he said as he took office, " out of that enervate state in
which twenty thousand men from France can shake her." His call
was soon answered. He at once breathed his own lofty spirit into
the country he served, as he communicated something of his own
grandeur to the men who served him. " No man," said a soldier
of the time, "ever entered Mr. Pitt's closet who did not feel himself
braver when he came out than when he went in." Ill-combined as
were his earlier expeditions, many as were his failures, he roused a
temper in the nation at large which made ultimate defeat im-
possible. " England has been a long time in labour," exclaimed
Frederick of Prussia as he recognized a greatness like his own,
" but she has at last brought forth a man."
Pitt and It is this personal and solitary grandeur which strikes us most
^^ as we look back to William Pitt. The tone of his speech and
action stands out in utter contrast with the tone of his time. In
the midst of a society critical, polite, indifferent, simple even to the
affectation of simplicity, witty and amusing but absolutely prosaic,
cool of heart and of head, sceptical of virtue and enthusiasm, scep-
tical above all of itself, Pitt stood absolutely alone. The depth of
his conviction, his passionate love for all that he deemed lofty and
true, his fiery energy, his poetic imaginativeness, his theatrical airs
and rhetoric, his haughty self-assumption, his pompousness and
extravagance, were not more puzzling to his contemporaries than
the confidence with which he appealed to the higher sentiments of
mankind, the scorn with which he turned from a corruption which
had till then been the great engine of politics, the undoubting faith
which he felt in himself, in the grandeur of his aims, and in his
power to carry them out. " I know that I can save the country,"
he said to the Duke of Devonshire on his entry into the Ministry,
'• and I know no other man can." The groundwork of Pitt's
character was an intense and passionate pride ; but it was a pride
MODERN ENGLAND
1641
SWORD-BEARER OF LONDON.
Map, 1726.
which kept him from stooping to the level of the men who had so
long held England in their hands.
He was the first statesman since
the Restoration who set the example
of a purely public spirit. Keen as
was his love of power, no man ever
refused office so often, or accepted it
with so strict a regard to the prin-
ciples he professed. " I will not go
to Court," he replied to an offer
which was made him, "if I may not
bring the constitution with me." For
the corruption about him he had
nothing but disdain. He left to New-
castle the buying of seats and the
purchase of members. At the outset
of his career Pelham appointed him
to the most lucrative office in his
administration, that of Paymaster of the Forces ; but its profits
were of an illicit kind, and poor as he was Pitt refused to accept
one farthing beyond his salary. His
pride never appeared in loftier and
nobler form than in his attitude to-
wards the people at large. No leader
had ever a wider popularity than
" the great commoner,"' as Pitt was
styled, but his air was always that of
a man who commands popularity,
not that of one who seeks it. He
never bent to flatter popular preju-
dice. When mobs were roaring thcm-
.selvcs hoarse for " Wilkes and liberty,"
he denounced Wilkes as a worthless
profligate ; and when all luigland
went mad in its hatred of the Scots
Pitt haughtily declared his esteem
for a people whose courage he had
been the fir.st to enlist on the side of lo\-alt\-. His noble figure,
Sec. 1
William
Pitt
1742
TO
1762
His public
spirit
MACE-llEAKEK UK LU.NUON.
MaJ>, 1726.
CHAP. X
MODERN ENGLAND
1643
the hawk-like eye which flashed from the small thin face, his
majestic voice, the fire and grandeur of his eloquence gave him
a sway over the House of Commons far greater than any other
minister nas possessed. He could silence an opponent with a look
of scorn, or hush the whole House with a single word. But he
never stooped to the arts by which men form a political party, and
at the height of his power his personal following hardly numbered
half a dozen members.
His real strength indeed lay not in Parliament but in the jx:ople
at large. His significant title of " the great commoner" marks a
TOWN-HALL, CARLISLE, IN THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY.
Nutter, "Carlisle iti the Olden Thiic."
political revolution. " It is the people who have sent me here,"'
Pitt boasted with a haughty pride when the nobles of the Cabinet
opposed his will. He was the first to .see that the long pohtical
inactivity of the public mind had cea.scd, and that the progress of
commerce and industry had produced a great mickUc class, which
no longer found its representatives in the legislature. " NOu have
taught me," said George the Second wlicn Pitt sought to sa\c H\'ng
by appcah'ng to the scnliinciit u{ I'.uliamcnt, " to lool< (or llu; voice
Sec. I
William
Pitt
1742
TO
1762
The
Great
Com-
moner
i644 HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE chap.
Sec. I of my people in other places than within the House of Commons."
wiLLi.^.M It was this unrepresented class which had forced him into i)ower.
Pitt ^ ^
1742 During his struggle with Newcastle the greater towns backed him
TO
1762 with the gift of their freedom and addresses of confidence. 'For
weeks." laughs Horace Walpole, '• it rained gold boxes." London
stood b\' him through good report and evil report, and the wealthiest
of English merchants, Alderman Beckford, was proud to figure as
His popu- \^.^^ political lieutenant. The temper of Pitt indeed harmonized
larity
admirably with the temper of the commercial England which
rallied round him, with its energy, its self-confidence, its pride, its
patriotism, its honesty, its moral earnestness. The merchant and
the trader were drawn by a natural attraction to the one statesman
of their time whose aims were unselfish, whose hands were clean,
whose life was pure and full of tender affection for wife and child.
But there was a far deeper ground for their enthusiastic reverence
and for the reverence v/hich his country has borne Pitt ever since.
He loved England with an intense and personal love. He believed
in her power, her glor}', her public virtue, till England learned to
believe in herself. Her triumphs were his triumphs, her defeats
his defeats. Her dangers lifted him high above all thought of
self or party-spirit. " Be one people," he cried to the factions who
rose to bring about his fall : " forget everything but the public ! I
set you the e.xample !" His glowing patriotism was the real spell
by which he held England. But even the faults which chequered
his character told for him with the middle classes. The Whig
statesmen who preceded him had been men whose pride expressed
itself in a marked simplicity and absence of pretence. Pitt was
essentially an actor, dramatic in the cabinet, in the House, in his
very office. He transacted business with his clerks in full dress.
His letters to his family, genuine as his love for them was, are
stilted and unnatural in tone. It was easy for the wits of his day
to jest at his affectation, his pompous gait, the dramatic appearance
which he made on great debates with his limbs swathed in flannel
and his crutch by his side. Early in life Walpole sneered at him
for bringing into the House of Commons " the gestures and
emotions of the stage. ' But the classes to whom Pitt appealed
were classes not easily offended by faults of taste, and saw nothing
to laugh at in the statesman who was borne into the lobby amidst
MODERN ENGLAND
1645
the tortures of the gout, or carried into the House of Lords to
breathe his last in a protest against national dishonour.
Above all Pitt wielded the strength of a resistless eloquence.
The power of political speech had been revealed in the stormy
WILLIAM rriT, EARL OF CHATHA.M.
Portrait by Richard Brjiiipton, in possession of Earl Stanhope, at Chcvcninf;.
debates of the Long Parliament, but it was cramped in its
utterance by the legal and theological pedantry of the time.
Pedantry was flung off by the age of the Revolution, but in the
eloquence of Somers and his ri\als wc sec ability rather than genius,
knowledge, clearness of expression, precisirm of tliought, ilic lucidity
William
Pitt
1742
TO
1762
Pitt's
Elo-
quence
1646
HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE
CHAP.
Sec. I
William
Pitt
1742
TO
1762
His
stafes-
manship
of the pleader or the man of business, rather than the passion of the
orator. Of this clearness of statement Pitt had little or none. He
was no read}- debater like W'alpole, no speaker of set speeches like
Chesterfield. His set speeches were always his worst, for in these
his want of taste, his love of effect, his trite quotations and
extravagant metaphors came at once to the front. That with
defects like these he stood far above every orator of his time was
due above all to his profound conviction, to the earnestness and
sincerity with which he spoke. " I must sit still," he whispered once
to a friend, " for when once I am up cvcrj-thing that is in m}' mind
comes out." But the reality of his eloquence was transfigured by a
large and poetic imagination, and by a glow of passion which not
onh' raised him high above the men of his own day but set him in
rhc front rank among the orators of the world. The cool reasoning,
the wit, the common sense of his age made way for a splendid
audacity, a sympathy with popular emotion, a sustained grandeur,
a lofty vehemence, a command over the whole range of human
feeling. He passed without an effort from the most solemn appeal
to the gayest raillery, from the keenest sarcasm to the tenderest
pathos. Every word was driven home by the grand self-conscious-
ness of the speaker. He spoke always as one having authority.
He was in fact the first English orator whose words were a power,
a power not over Parliament only but over the nation at large.
Parliamentary reporting was as yet unknown, and it was only
in detached phrases and half-remembered outbursts that the voice
of Pitt reached beyond the walls of St. Stephen's. But it was
especially in these sudden outbursts of inspiration, in these brief
passionate appeals, that the power of his eloquence la}-. The few
broken words we have of him stir the same thrill in men of our da\-
which they stirred in the men of his own. But passionate as was
Pitt's eloquence, it was the eloquence of a statesman, not of a
rhetorician. Time has approved almost all his greater struggles,
his defence of the libert}- of the subject against arbitrary imprison-
ment under " general warrants," of the liberty of the press against
Lord Mansfield, of the rights of constituencies against the House of
Commons, of the constitutional rights of America against P^ngland
itself. His foreign policy was directed to the preservation of
Prussia, and Prussia has vindicated his foresight b}' the creation of
MODERN ENGLAND
1647
chant's clerk made a com-
pany of English traders the
sovereigns of Bengal, and
opened that wondrous career
of conquest which has
added the Indian peninsula,
from Ceylon to the Hima-
layas, to the dominion of the
British crown. Recalled by
broken health to England,
Clive returned at the out-
break of the Seven Years'
War to win for England a
greater prize than that whicli
his victories had won for it
in the supremacy of the Car-
natic. He had been only
a few months at Madras
when a crime whose horror still lingers in English memories
called him to Bengal. Bengal, the delta of the Ganges, was the
richest and most fertile of all the provinces of India. Its rice, its
sugar, its silk, and the produce of its looms, were famous in Vauo-
pean markets. Its viceroys, like their fellow lieutenants, liad become
practically independent of the Emperor, and had .idiKd u> Heuiial
the provinces of Orissa and l>char.
SU RAJAH DOWLAH.
Miniature in India Musctiiii.
Sec. I
William
Pitt
1742
TO
1762
Germany. We have adopted his plans for the direct government
of India by the Crown, which when he proposed them were re-
garded as insane. Pitt was the first to recognize the liberal charac-
ter of the Church of England. He was the first to sound the note
of Parliamentary reform. One of his earliest measures shows the
generosity and originality of his mind. He quieted Scotland by
employing its Jacobites in the service of their country, and by
raising Highland regiments among its clans. The selection of
Wolfe and Amherst as generals showed his contempt for pre-
cedent and his inborn knowledge of men.
But it was fortune rather than his genius which showered on
Pitt the triumphs which signalized the opening of his ministry. In
the East the darine of a mer-
Plassey
:i(l(U-(l
Suraiah Dowlaii, the master
1648
HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE
CHAP.
Sec. 1
William
Pitt
T742
TO
1762
Black
Hole of
Calcutta
of this vast domain, had long been jealous of the enterprise and
wealth of the English traders ; and, roused at this moment by the
instigation of the French, he appeared before Fort William, seized
its settlers, and thrust a hundred and fifty of them into a small
prison called the Black Mole of Calcutta. The heat of an Indian
summer did its work of death. The wretched prisoners trampled
each other under foot in the madness of thirst, and in the morning
onl}- twenty-three remained alive. Clivc sailed at the news with a
thousand Englishmen and two thousand sepo)'s to wreak vengeance
for the crime. He was no longer the boy-soldier of Arcot ; and
the tact and skill with which he met Surajah Dowlah in the
negotiations by which the Viceroy strove to avert a conflict were
sullied by the Oriental falsehood and treachery to which he stooped.
MEDAI, COMMEMORATING BATTLE OF PLASSEV.
But his courage remained unbroken. When the two armies faced
each other on the plain of Plassey the odds were so great that on
the very eve of the battle a council of war counselled retreat.
Clive withdrew to a grove hard by, and after an hour's lonely
musing gave the word to fight. Courage, in fact, was all that was
needed. The fifty thousand foot and fourteen thousand horse who
were seen covering the plain at daybreak on the 23rd of June,
1757, were soon thrown into confusion by the English guns, and
broke in headlong rout before the Engli.sh charge. The death of
Surajah Dowlah enabled the Company to place a creature of its
own on the throne of Bengal ; but his rule soon became a nominal
one. With the victory of Plassey began in fact the Empire of
England in the East.
MODERN ENGLAND
[649
William
Pitt
1742
TO
1762
Pitt and
Frederick
The year of Piassey was the year of a victory hardly less im-
portant in the West. There was little indeed in the military ex-
peditions which marked the opening of Pitt's ministry to justify
the trust of his country ; for money and blood were lavished on
buccaneering descents upon the French coasts which did small
damage to the enem}-. But incidents such as these had little
weight in the minister's general policy. His greatness lies in the
fact that he recognized the genius of Frederick the Great, and
resolved to give him an energetic support. On his entry into
office he refused to ratify the Convention of Closter-Seven, which
had reduced Frederick to despair by throwing open his realm to a
French advance ; protected his flank by gathering an English and
Hanoverian force on the Elbe, and on the counsel of the Prussian
King placed the best of his generals, the Prince of Brunswick, at
its head ; while subsidy
MEDALS COMMEMORATING UATTLES OF
ROSSBACH AND LEUTHEN.
after subsidy were poured
into Frederick's exhaust-
ed treasury. Pitt's trust
was met by the most bril-
liant display of military
genius which the modern
world had as yet witness-
ed. Two months after his
repulse at Kolin, Frede-
rick flung himself on a French army which had advanced into the
heart of Germany, and annihilated it in the victory of Rossbach.
Before another month had passed he hurried from the Saale to the
Oder, and by a yet more signal victory at Leuthen cleared Silesia
of the Austrians. The victory of Rossbach was destined to change
the fortunes of the world by bringing about the unity of German)- ;
its immediate effect was to force the French arm}' on the Elbe to
fall back on the Rhine. Here Ferdinand of Brunswick, reinforced
with twenty thousand English soldiers, held them at ba}- during
the summer, while Frederick, foiled in an attack on Moravia, drove
the Russians back on Poland in the battle of Zorndorf His defeat
however by the Austrian General Daun at Hochkirch proved the
first of a .scries of terrible misfortunes; and the )-car 1759 mark.s
the lowest point of his fortunes. A ficsh advance of the Russian
Rossbach
iXov. 1757
i6sO
HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE
CHAP.
sec^i army forced the King to attack it at Kunersdorf in August, and
^i,';^'^" Frederick's repulse ended in the utter rout of his army. For the
1742 moment all seemed lost, for even Berlin la>' open to the conqueror.
1762 A few days later the surrender of Dresden gave Saxony to the
Austrians ; and at the close of the year an attempt upon them at
Plaucn was foiled with terrible loss. But every disaster was
retrieved by the indomitable courage and tenacity of the King, and
winter found him as before master of Silesia and of all Saxony
save the ground which Daun's camp covered. The year which
marked the lowest point of I^'cderick's fortunes was the year of
Pitt's greatest triumphs, the year of Mindcn and Quibcron and
Quebec. France aimed both at a descent upon Fngland and at
MEDAL COMMEMORATING BATTLE OF MINDEN.
Minden
Aug. \,
1759
the conquest of Hanover, and gathered a naval armament at Brest,
while fifty thousand men under Contadcs and Broglic united on
the Weser. Ferdinand with less than forty thousand met them on
the field of Minden. The French marched along the Weser to the
attack, with their flanks protected by that river and a brook which
ran into it, and with their cavalry, ten thousand strong, massed in
the centre. The six English regiments in Ferdinand's army fronted
the French horse, and, mistaking their general's order, marched at
once upon them in line, regardless of the batteries on their flank,
and rolled back charge after charge with volleys of musketry. In
an hour the French centre was utterly broken. " I have seen,"
said Contadcs, " what I never thought to be possible — a single line
of infantry break through three lines of cavalry, ranked in order of
battle, and tumble them to ruin ! " Nothing but the refusal of
Lord John Sackville to complete the victory by a charge of the
MODERN ENGLAND
i6si
horse which he headed saved the French from utter rout. As it
was, their army again fell back broken on Frankfort and the
Rhine. The project of an invasion of England met with like
success. Eighteen thousand men lay ready to embark on board
the French fleet, when Admiral Hawke came in sight of it at the
mouth of Ouiberon Ba}-. The sea was rolling high, and the coast
where the French ships lay was so dangerous from its shoals and
granite reefs that the pilot remonstrated with the English admiral
against his project of attack. " You have done your duty in this
remonstrance," Hawke coolh- replied ; " now lay me alongside the
French admiral." Two English ships were lost on the shoals, but
Sec. I
N\"lI.l.I.\M
Pitt
1742
TO
1762
Out heron
Xov. 20
"A VIl.W UF UIK CITV OK QLKBIX IX NKW FK.l.NCli I.\ A.MKR1C.'\."
Drawin,^ {in British Miiseuiii) hy Marga?'ct Cecil, 1740.
the French fleet \\as ruined and the disgrace of B}-ng's retreat
\\iped awa)\
It was not in the Old World onl\- that the }car of Minden ami The
Quiberon brought glory to the arms of England. In Europe, Pill Conquest
had wisely limited his efforts to the supjjort of Prussia, but across Canada
the Atlantic the field was wholl)' his own, and he had no sooner
entered office than the desultory raids, which had hitherto been
the only resistance to PVcnch aggression, were superseded b\- a
large and comprehensive ])lan of attack. The .sympathies of llic
colonics were won by an order which gave their provincial ofticcrs
equal rank with the royal officers in the field. They raised at
\'oi.. IV — I'Airi 36 i; ( >
[6^2
HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE
CHAP.
Sec. I
William
Pitt
1742
TO
1762
I75S
Pitt's call twenty thousand men, and taxed themselves heavily for
their support. Three expeditions were simultaneously directed
against the I-'rcnch line— one to the Ohio vallc}-, one against
Ticonderoga on Lake Champlain, while a third under General
Amherst and Admiral Boscawen sailed to the mouth of the St.
Lawrence. The last was brilliantly successful. Louisburg, though
defended by a garrison of five thousand men, was taken with the
fleet in its harbour, and the whole province of Cape Breton
reduced. The American militia supported the British troops in a
vigorous campaign against the forts ; and though Montcalm, with
a far inferior force, was able to repulse General Abercromby from
Ticonderoga, a force from Philadelphia and Virginia, guided and
inspired by the courage of George Washington, made itself ma.ster
MED.\L COMMEMORATING CAPTURE OF LOUISBUKG A.ND CAPE BRETON.
1759
Wol/c
of Duquesne. The name of Pittsburg which was given to their
new conquest still commemorates the enthusiasm of the colonists
for the great Minister who first opened to them the West. The
next year saw the evacuation of Ticonderoga before the advance
of Amherst, and the capture of Fort Niagara after the defeat of an
Indian force which marched to its relief. The capture of the three
forts was the close of the French effort to bar the advance of the
colonists to the valley of the Mississippi, and to place in other
than English hands the destinies of North America. But Pitt had
resolved, not merely to foil the ambition of Montcalm, but to
destroy the French rule in America altogether; and while Amherst
was breaking through the line of forts, an expedition under
General Wolfe entered the St. Lawrence and anchored below
Quebec. Wolfe had already fought at Dettingen, Fonteno}-, and
MODERN ENGLAND
1653
Laffeldt, and had played the first part in the capture of Louisburc:^. Sec. 1
Pitt had discerned the genius and heroism which lav hidden be- ^villiam
Pitt
neath the awkward manner and the occasional gasconade of the 1742
young soldier of thirt}--three whom he chose for the crowning 1762
exploit of the war, but for a while his sagacity seemed to have
failed. No efforts could draw Montcalm from the long line of
CKXKRAL WOLFK.
Picture by Schaa/c, in Xational Portrait Gallery.
inaccessible cliffs which at this point borders the ri\er, and for six
weeks Wolfe saw his men wasting away in inacti\il\- while he
himself la\' prostrate with sickness and {lcsi)air. At last his resolu-
tion was fixed, and in a long line of boats the ami}- dropped down
the St. Lawrence to a pc^int at the base of the I feights of Abraham,
where a narrow path had been disctA'cred to the summit. Not a
voice broke the silence of the night save the voice of Wollr him
CHAP. X
MODERN ENGLAND
1655
self, as he quietly repeated the stanzas of Gray's " Elegy in a
Country Churchyard," remarking as he closed, " I had rather be
the author of that poem than take Quebec." But his nature was
as brave as it was tender; he was the first to leap on shore and to
scale the narrow path where no two men could go abreast. His
men followed, pulling themselves to the top by the help of bushes
and the crags, and at daybreak on the 12th of September the
whole army stood in orderly formation before Quebec. Montcalm
hastened to attack, though his force, composed chiefly of raw
militia, was far inferior in discipline to the English ; his onset
however was met by a steady fire, and at the fii-st English advance
his men gave way. Wolfe headed a charge which broke the
French line, but a ball pierced his breast in the moment of victory.
" They run," cried an officer who held the dying man in his arms
— " I protest the}' run." Wolfe rallied to ask who they were that
ran, and was told "The French." "Then," he murmured, "I die
happy ! " The fall of Montcalm in the moment of his defeat
completed the victory ; and the submission of Canada, on the
capture of Alontrcal by Amherst in 1760, put an end to the dream
of a French empire in America.
Sec. 1
William
Pitt
1742
TO
1762
Quebec
MEDAL COMMICMOKATl.NC. SUCCESSES '^1 l /_-,>.
ill ii'.^v^(|^![«|
CHAP. X
MODERN ENGLAND
1657
Sec. II
NORTH AMERICAN TRADERS AND INDIANS.
Ganthier and Fadeii's Map of Canada, 1777.
Section II. — The Independence of America, 1761 — 1782
\Authoritics. — The two sides of the American quarrel ha\'e been told with
the same purpose of fairness and truthfulness, though with a very different bias,
by Lord Stanhope (" History of England from the Peace of Utrecht "), and Mr.
Bancroft ("History of the United States"). The latter is by far the more
detailed and picturesque, the former perhaps the cooler and more impartial of
the two narratives. For England see Mr. iMasscys " History of England
from the Accession of George the Third ; '' Walpole's '• Memoir's of the
Early Reign of George the Third ; "' the Rockingham Memoirs ; the Grenvillc
Papers ; the Bedford Correspondence ; the correspondence of George the
Third with Lord North ; the Letters of Junius ; and Lord Russell's " Life and
Correspondence of C. J. Fox." Burke's speeches and pamphlets during this
period, above all his " Thoughts on the Causes of the Present Discontents,"
are indispensable for any real knowledge of it. The Constitutional History of
Sir Erskine May all but compensates us, in its fulness and impartiality, for
the loss of Mr. Hallam's comments.] [Mr. Lecky's " History of England in
the Eighteenth Century" has been published since this book was written.- /:"</.]
Never had ICngland played so great a part in the historj' cf xhe
mankind a.s in the \car 1759. It was a )-car of triumi)hs in cvcr\- Years
quarter of the world. In September came the news of Mindcn, War
and of a victor\- off Lagos. In October came tidings of the
capture rif Quebec. Ncnxinbcr brouglU word of the I'"rciich
CHAP. X MODERN ENGLAND 1659
defeat at Ouiberon. " We are forced to ask every morning what sec 11
victory there is," laughed Horace Walpole, " for fear of missing The Inde-
one. But it was not so much in the number as in the importance oi- America
of its triumphs that the Seven Years' War stood and remains still to
without a rival. It is no exaggeration to say that three of its i—
many victories determined for ages to come the destinies of man-
kind. With that of Rossbach began the re-creation of Germany,
the revival of its political and intellectual life, the long process of
its union under the leadership of Prussia and Prussia's kings.
With that of Plassey the influence of Europe told for the first time
since the days of Alexander on the nations of the East. The
world, in Burke's gorgeous phrase, " saw one of the races of the
north-west cast into the heart of Asia new manners, new doctrines,
new institutions." With the triumph of Wolfe on the heights of
Abraham began the history of the United States. By removing
an enemy whose dread had knit the colonists to the mother
country, and by breaking through the line with which France had
barred them from the basin of the Mississippi, Pitt laid the founda-
tion of the great republic of the west. Nor were these triumphs
less momentous to Britain. The Seven Years' War is a turning-
point in our national history, as it is a turning-point in the history
of the world. Till now the relative weight of the European states
had been drawn from their possessions within P^urope itself But
from the close of the war it mattered little whether England
counted for less or more with the nations around her. She was no
longer a mere European power, no longer a mere rival of Germany
or Russia or P'rancc. Mistress of Northern iVmerica, the future
mistress of India, claiming as her own the empire of the .seas,
Britain suddenly towered high above the nations whose positions
in a single continent doomed them to comparative insignificance in
the after history of the world. The war indeed was hardly ended />>//«/«
when a consciousness of the destinies that lay before the luiglish ^"//yi/^;.
pcoplc showed itself in the restlessness with which our seamen
penetrated into far-off seas. The Atlantic was dwindling into a
mere strait within the British pjiipirc ; but bexond it to the west-
ward lay a reach of waters where the British flag was almost
unknown. In the year which followed the Peace of I'aris two ,-(-,4
English ships were sent on a cruise of disctwery to tin- .Straits of
i66o
HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE
CHAP.
Secji Magellan ; three years later Captain Wall is reached the coral reefs
Thk inde- of Tahiti ; and in 1768 Captain Cook traversed the Pacific from end
01- America ^.q ^j^^-j ^j^j whercv^cr hc touchcd, in New Zealand, in Australia, he
1761 '
T'^ claimed the soil for the Knc:lish Crown, and opened a new world
17S2 ^^ '^
— for the expansion of the English race. Statesmen and people
CAPTAIN COOK.
Fro)>: an cngrazhig- ly Shcnvin, nftcr a picture ly N. Dance.
alike felt the change in their country's attitude. In the words of
Burke, the Parliament of Britain claimed " an imperial character in
which as from the throne of heaven she superintends all the several
inferior legislatures, and guides and controls them all, without
annihilating any." Its people, steeped in the commercial ideas of
the time, saw in the growth of their vast possessions, the monopoh'
MODERN ENGLAND
1661
of whose trade was reserved to the mother countr}-, a source of
boundless wealth. The trade with America alone w^as in 1772
nearl)' equal to what England carried on with the whole world at
the beginning of the centur}-. To guard and preserve so vast and
lucrative a dominion became from this moment not only the aim
of British statesmen but the resolv^e of the British people.
From the time when the Puritan emigration added the four
New England States, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Connecticut,
and Rhode Island to
those of Maryland
and Virginia the pro-
gress of the English
colonies in North
America had been
slow, but it had never
ceased. Settlers still
came, though in
smaller numbers, and
two new colonies
south of Virginia re-
ceived from Charles
the Second their
name of the Caro-
linas. The war with
Holland transferred
to British rule a
district claimed by
the Dutch from the
Hudson to the inner
Lakes ; and this
countr}-, which was
granted by Charles to his brother, received from him the name of
New York. Portions were soon broken off from its vast territory to
form the colonies of New Jersey and Delaware. In 16S2 a train of
Quakers followed William I'enn across the Delaware into tlu- heart
of the primaeval forest, and became a colon)- whicli recalled its
founder and the woodlands amf)ng which lu- planted it in its name
of Pennsylvania. A long interxal elapsed before a new settlement,
\,. i'i'.N
Portrait in National Mii.
Sec. II
The Inde-
pe.ndence
OF America
1761
TO
1782
The
American
Colonies
1664
i66.
HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE
CH/. p.
Sec. II which rcccivcd its title of Georgia from the reigning sovereign,
The iNDK- Georee the Second, was established by General Oglethorpe on the
I'ENDENCE °
ofAmekra Savannah as a refuge for linglish debtors and for the persecuted
'^^ Protestants of Germany. Slow as this progress seemed, the
colonics were really growing fast in numbers and in wealth. Their
progress wholc population amounted in the middle of the eighteenth century
PINE-TREE SHILLING OF .MASSACII USETrS.
to about 1,200,000 whites and a quarter of a million of negroes ;
nearly a fourth of that of the mother country. The wealth of the
colonists was growing even faster than their numbers. As yet the
southern colonies were the more productive. Virginia boasted of
its tobacco plantations, Georgia and the Carolinas of their maize
and rice and indigo crops, while New York and Pennsylvania,
with the colonies of New England, were restricted to their whale
and cod fisheries, their corn harvests and their timber trade. The
distinction indeed between the Northern and Southern colonies
:,L\\ AM.1 1 LkIvAM ( A1 1 l.KUAUD.S .\ LU VuKK).
JV. J. Visscher's Map of .\'e~M England and Xc-zu Belgium. Mid. Scvetiteenth Century.
was more than an industrial one. In the Southern States the
prevalence of slavery produced an aristocratic spirit and favoured
the creation of large estates ; even the system of entails had been
introduced among the wealthy planters of Virginia, where many of
the older English families found representatives in houses such as
MODERN ENGLAND
1663
those of Fairfax and Washington. Throughout New England, on sec. ii
the other hand, the characteristics of the Puritans, their piety, their '^'he Inde-
'■ I'ENDENCK
intolerance, their simplicity of life, their love of equality and °^ America
tendency to democratic institutions, remained unchanged. In
education and political activity New England stood far ahead of
its fellow colonies, for the settlement of the Puritans had been
followed at once by the establishment of a system of local schools
which is still the glory of America. '' Every township," it was
1782
" A PROSPECT OK THE COLLEDGES AT CAMBRIDGE IN NEW ENGLAND.
American print, c. 1739.
enacted, " after the Lord hath increased them to the number of
fifty householders, shall appoint one to teach all children to write
and read ; and when any town shall increase to the number of a
hundred families, they shall .set up a grammar school."
Great however as these differences were, and great as was to be Englami
their innuence. on American history, they were little felt as yet. colonies
Li the main features fjf their outer organization the whole ot tin-
colonies stood fairK- at (jne. In relicricnis and in ci\il mailers
i664 HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE chap
Sec. II alike all of them contrasted sharply with the England at home.
The"7^de- Religious tolerance had been brought about by a medley of
PENDENCE ,111 1 r -VT
OF America rcligious faiths such as the world had never seen betore. JNew
'?o^ England was still a Puritan stronghold. In all the Southern
^U colonies the Episcopal Church was established by law, and the
bulk of the settlers clung to it ; but Roman Catholics formed a
large part of the population of i\Lar\-land. Pennsylvania was a
State of Quakers. Presbyterians and Baptists had fled from tests
and persecutions to colonise New Jersey. Lutherans and Mora-
vians from Germany abounded among the settlers of Carolina and
Georgia. In such a chaos of creeds religious persecution became
impossible. There was the same outer diversity and the same real
unity in the political tendency and organization of the States.
Whether the spirit of the colony was democratic, moderate, or
oligarchical, its form of government was prctt\- much the same.
The original rights of the proprietor, the projector and grantee of
the earliest settlement, had in all cases, save in those of Pennsyl-
vania and Maryland, either ceased to exist or fallen into desuetude.
The government of each colony lay in a House of Assembly
elected by the people at large, with a Council sometimes elected,
sometimes nominated by the Governor, and a Governor either
elected or appointed by the Crown. With the appointment of these
Governors all administrative interference on the part of the
English Government at home practically ended. The colonies were left by
control
a happy neglect to themselves. It was wittily said at a later day
that " Mr. Grenville lost America because he read the American
despatches, which none of his predecessors ever did." There was
little room indeed for any interference within the limits of the
colonies. Their privileges were secured by ro\-al charters. Their
Assemblies alone exercised the right of internal taxation, and
they exercised it sparingly. Walpole, like Pitt afterwards, set
roughly aside the project for an American excise. " I have Old
England set against me," he said, " by this measure, and do you
think I will have New England too.'" Even in matters of trade
the supremacy of the mother country was far from being a galling
one. There were some small import duties, but they were evaded
by a well-understood system of smuggling. The restriction of
trade with the colonies to Great Britain was more than compen-
MODERN ENGLAND 166 =
sated by the commercial privileges which the Americans enjoyed Sec. ii
as British subjects. As vet, therefore, there was nothincr to break '^"e Inde-
the good will which the colonists felt towards the mother country, °'' amekica
while the danger of French aggression drew them closely to it. to
But strong as the attachment of the Americans to Britain seemed —
at the close of the war, keen lookers-on saw in the very complete-
ness of Pitt's triumph a danger to their future union. The
presence of the French in Canada, their designs in the west, had
thrown America for protection on the mother-countr}\ But with
the conquest of Canada all need of this protection was removed.
The attitude of England towards its distant dependency became
one of mere possession : and differences of temper, which had
till now been thrown into the background by the higher need for
union, started into a new prominence. If questions of trade and
taxation awoke murmurings and disputes, behind these grievances
lay an uneasy dread at the democratic form which the government
and society of the colonies had taken, and at the " levelling
principles " which prevailed.
To check this republican spirit, to crush all dreams of sever- George
the
ance, and to strengthen the unity of the British Empire was one Third
of the chief aims of the young sovereign who mounted the throne
on the death of his grandfather in 1760. For the first and last time
since the accession of the House of Hanover England saw a King
who was resolved to play a part in English politics ; and the part
which George the Third succeeded in playing was undoubtedly a
memorable one. In ten years he reduced government to a
shadow, and turned the loyalty of his subjects at home into dis-
affection. In twenty he had forced the American colonies into
revolt and independence, and brought England to what then
seemed the brink of ruin. Work such as this has sometimes been
done by very great men, and often by very wicked and profligate
men ; but George was neither profligate nor great. He had a
smaller mind than any English king before him save James the
Second. He was wretchedly educated, and his natural powers
were of the meanest sort. Nor had he the capacity fcjr using
greater minds than his own b)- which some sovereigns have
concealed their natural littleness. On the coiitrar\', his only
feeling towards great men was one of jcaUnis)- and IiaU-. lie
.l||f**M^^
GEORGE III.
Picture by Allan Ramsay (1767), in the Xational Portyait Gallery.
CHAP. X
MODERN ENGLAND
1667
longed for the time when " decrepitude or death " might put an
end to Pitt ; and even when death had freed him from " this
trumpet of sedition," he denounced the proposal for a public monu-
ment to the great statesman as " an offensive measure to me
personally." But dull and petty as his temper was, he was clear
as to his purpose and obstinate in the pursuit of it. And his
purpose was to rule. " George," his mother, the Princess of
Wales, had continually repeated to him in youth, " George, be
king." He called himself always " a Whig of the Revolution,"
Sec. II
The Inde-
pendence
OF America
1 761
TO
1782
.^^^'
£
STATE COACH OF GEORGE III.
South Kensington Jl/uscitiii.
and he had no wish to undo the work which he believed the Revo-
lution to have done. But he looked on the subjection of his two
predecessors to the will of their ministers as no real part of the
work of the Revolution, but as a usurpation of that authority
which the Revolution had left to the Crown. And to this usurpa-
tion he was determined not to submit. His resolve was to govern,
not to govern against law, but simply to govern, to be freed from
the dictation of parties and ministers, and to be in effect the first
Minister of the State. How utterly incompatible such a dix-am
was with the Parliamentary constitution of the countr\- as il liad
Vol.. IV— Pakt 36 5 1'
A'r/uni
of till-
Torit-s
i668 HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE chap.
Sec. ii received its final form from Sunderland it is easy to see ; but
The inde- Gcorgc was resolved to carry out his dream. And in carrying it
PENDENXE ° ^ o
OF ..vmerica QUI; j^g ^y^s aided by the circumstances of the time. The spell of
1761 f
TO Tacobitism was broken by the defeat of Charles Edward, and the
1782
— later degradation of his life wore finally away the thin coating of
disloyalty which clung to the clergy and the squires. They were
ready again to take part in politics, and in the accession of a king
who, unlike his two predecessors, was no stranger but an English-
man, who had been born in England and spoke English, they
found the opportunity they desired. From the opening of the
reign Tories gradually appeared again at court. It was only
slowly indeed that the party as a whole swung round to a steady
support of the Government ; but their action told at once on the
complexion of English politics. Their withdrawal from public
affairs had left them untouched by the progress of political ideas
since the Revolution of 1688, and when they returned to political
life it was to invest the new sovereign with all the reverence which
they had bestowed on the Stuarts. A " King's party " was thus
ready made to his hand ; but George was able to strengthen it by
a vigorous exertion of the power and influence which was still left
The to the Crown. All promotion in the Church, all advancement in
King's
Friends the army, a great number of places in the civil administration and
about the court, were still at the King's disposal. If this vast
mass of patronage had been practically usurped by the ministers
of his predecessors, it was resumed and firmly held by George the
Third ; and the character of the House of Commons made patron-
age, as we have seen, a powerful engine in its management.
George had one of Walpole's weapons in his hands, and he used
it with unscrupulous energy to break up the party which Walpole
had held so long together. He saw that the Whigs were divided
among themselves by the factious spirit which springs from a long
hold of office, and that they were weakened by the rising con-
tempt with which the country at large regarded the selfishness and
corruption of its representatives. More than thirty years before,
Gay had set the leading statesmen of the day on the public stage
under the guise of highwaymen and pickpockets. "It is difficult
to determine," said the witty playwright, " whether the fine gentle-
men imitate the gentlemen of the road, or the gentlemen of the
iMODERN ENGLAND
1669
<J( ^fiitr oayiaii a. la, fiu eC cAanat Jjj 'PiOotreAj).
road the fine gentlemen." And now that the " fine gentlemen "
were represented by hoary jobbers such as Newcastle, the public
contempt was fiercer than ever, and men turned sickened from the
intrigues and corruption of party to a young sovereign who aired
himself in a character which Bolingbroke had invented, as a
Patriot King.
Had Pitt and Newcastle held together, supported as the one
was by the commercial classes, the other by the Whig families and
the whole machinery of
Parliamentary manage-
ment, George must have
struggled in vain. But
the ministry was al-
ready disunited. The
Whigs, attached to
peace by the traditions
of Walpole, dismayed
at the enormous ex-
penditure, and haughty
with the pride of a
ruling oligarchy, were
in silent revolt against
the war and the supre-
macy of the Great
Commoner. It was
against their will that
he rejected proposals
of peace from France
, . , 111. Pyint in tlu- lUhliotliciiuc Xational,-, Parts.
which would have se-
cured to England all her conquests on the terms of a desertion of
Prussia, and that his steady support enabled I-'redcrick still to hold
out against the terrible exhaustion of an unequal struggle. The
campaign of 1760 indeed was one of the grandest efforts of
Frederick's genius. Foiled in an attempt on Dresden, he again
saved Silesia by a victory at Licgnitz, and hurled back an atlvancc
of Daun by a victory at Torgau ; while Ferdinand of Brunswick
held his ground as of old along the Wcser. liut even victories
drained I'Vederick's strength. Men and nu^ney alike filled hnn.
=; 1' i.
Sec. n
The Indk-
fendence
OF America
1761
TO
1782
Pitt
resigns
S^^erfrJ/,^ //c!^^^3iy'y3on/^onjm y/'A
, /o.<v J.,, .^si^ -f-f'' ^''" " y^' ji«t-~-
^ .s
s "^
^
CHAP. X MODERN ENGLAND 167 1
It was impossible for him to strike another great blow, and the Sec. ii
ring of enemies again closed slowly round him. His one remain- the Inde-
FENUEXCE
ing hope lay in the firm support of Pitt, and triumphant as his o'' America
policy had been, Pitt was tottering to his fall. The envy and to
1782
resentment of his colleagues at his undisguised supremacy found a —
supporter in the young King. The Earl of Bute, a mere Court
favourite, with the temper and abilities of a gentleman usher, was
forced into the Cabinet. As he was known to be his master's
mouthpiece, a peace-party was at once formed ; but Pitt showed
no signs of giving way. In 1761 he proposed a vast extension of
the war. He had learnt the signature of a treaty which brought
into force the Family Compact between the Courts of Paris and
Madrid, and of a special convention which bound the last to
declare war on England at the close of the year. Pitt proposed
to anticipate the blow b\' an instant seizure of the treasure fleet
which was on its wayTrom the Indies to Cadiz, by occupying the
Isthmus of Panama, and by an attack on the Spanish dominions
in the New World. But his colleagues shrank from plans so vast
and daring ; and Newcastle was backed in his resistance by the
bulk of the Whigs. The King openly supported them. It was
in vain that Pitt enforced his threat of resignation by declaring
himself responsible to " the people " ; and the resignation of his
post in October changed the face of European affairs.
" Pitt disgraced I " wrote a French philosopher, " it is worth two Close
victories to us ! " Frederick on the other hand was almost driven seven
to despair. But George saw in the removal of his powerful minis- X^'^^'
ter an opening for the realization of his long-cherished plans.
Pitt's appeal had been heard by the people at large. When he went
to Guildhall the Londoners hung on his carriage wheels, hugged
his footmen, and even kissed his horses. Their break with Pitt was
in fact the death-blow of the Whigs. Newcastle found he had
freed himself from the great statesman only to be driven from office
by a series of studied mortifications from his young master ; and
the more powerful of his W hig colleagues followed him into retire-
ment. George saw himself triumphant over the two great forces
which had hampered the free action of the Crown, "the power
which arose," in Burke's words, " from popularit}-, and the power
which arcjse from p(;litical connexion; ' and the rise of Lord I'ulc
i672 HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE chap.
Sec. II to the post of First Minister marked the triumph of the King. He
The Inre- took office simply as an asjcnt of the King's will ; and the King's
PENDENCE 1 y o o ' ir>
OF America will was to end the war. In the spring of 1762 Frederick, who still
1761 . 1 & /
TO held his ground stubbornK' against fate, was brought to the brink
1782 . ^ . ',....
— of ruin by a withdrawal of the Fnglish subsidies ; it was in fact onl)'
Bllt€*S
Ministry his dogged resolution and a sudden change in the policy of Russia,
which followed on the death of his enemy the Czarina Flizabeth,
that enabled him at last to retire from the struggle in the Treaty
of Hubertsberg without the loss of an inch of territory. George
and Lord Bute had already purchased peace at a very different
price. With a shameless indifference to the national honour they
not only deserted Frederick, but they offered to negotiate a peace
for him on the basis of a cession of Silesia to Maria Theresa
and East Prussia to the Czarina. The issue of the strife with
Spain saved England from humiliation such as this. Pitt's
policy of instant attack had been justified by a Spanish declaration
of war three weeks after his fall ; and the year 1762 saw triumphs
which vindicated his confidence in the issue of the new struggle.
Martinico, the strongest and wealthiest of the French West Indian
possessions, was conquered at the opening of the year, and its
conquest was followed by those of Grenada, St. Lucia, and St.
Vincent. In the summer the reduction of Havana brought with
it the gain of the rich Spanish colony of Cuba. The Philippines,
the wealthiest of the Spanish colonies in the Pacific, yielded to a
Peace of British fleet. It was these losses that brought about the Peace of
arts Paris. So eager was Bute to end the war that he contented him-
Feb. 1763 _ ^
self in Europe with the recovery of Minorca, while he restored
IMartinico to France, and Cuba and the Philippines to Spain. The
real gains of Britain were in India and America. In the first the
French abandoned all right to any military settlement. From the
second the}' wholl}- withdrew. To England they gave up Canada,
Nova Scotia, and Louisiana as far as the Mississippi, while they
resigned the rest of that province to Spain, in compensation for its
surrender of Florida to the British Crown.
The The anxict}' which the \-oung King showed for peace abroad
Con^nfons ^P^ang miainh' from his belief that peace was needful for success in
the struggle for power at home. So long as the war lasted Pitt's
return to office and the union of the Whigs under his guidance was
MODERN ENGLAND
1673
an hourly danger. But with peace the King's hands were free. Sec. ii
He could count on the dissensions of the Whigs, on the new-born the inde-
^ , ^T-, . PENDENCE
loyalt}' of the Tories, on the influence of the Crown patronage °^ America
which he had taken into his own hands. But what he counted on
most of all was the character of the House of Commons. At a
time when it had become all-powerful in the State, the House of
Commons had ceased in any real and effective sense to be a repre-
sentative body at all. That changes in the distribution of seats
1761
TO
1782
THE MANSION HOUSE, LONDON.
Picture by S. Scott, c. 1750. Guildhall Art Gallery.
were called for by the natural shiftings of population and wealth
since the days of Edward the First had been recognized as early
as the Civil Wars ; but the reforms of the Long Parliament were
cancelled at the Restoration. l^'rom the time of Charles the
Second to that of George the Third not a single effort had been
made to meet the growing abuses of our parliamentar\- s\stcm.
Great towns like Manchester or liirmingham remained without a
member, while members still sat for borouijhs which, like ( )l(i
Sarum, had actually vanished fr(;iii the face of the eailh. I he
i674
HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE
CHAP.
Sec. II effort of thc Tudor sovereigns to establish a Court party in the
The Indf. House bv a profuse creation of borouG;hs, most of which were mere
PENDENCK J r .-> '
OF America
1761
TO
1782
villages then in thc hands of thc Crown, had ended in thc appro-
priation of these seats by the neighbouring landowners, who bought
and sold them as they bought and sold their own estates. Even in
towns which had a real claim to representation, the narrowing of
municipal pri\ilegcs ever since thc fourteenth ccntur\- to a small
part of the inhabitants, and in many cases the restriction of
electoral rights to the members of the governing corporation,
rendered their representation a mere name. The choice of such
places hung simply on the purse or influence of politicians. Some
l,i.>Mii_>.\ liKlDL.l': A.\U JjVhR S WllAi;!-.
Picture by S. Scott, c. 1750. Cjiiildhall Art Gallery.
were " thc King's boroughs, ' others obediently returned nominees
of the Ministry of the day, others were "close boroughs" in the
hands of jobbers like the Duke of Newcastle, \\\\o at one time
returned a third of all the borough members in the House. The
counties and the great commercial towns could alone be said to
exercise any real right of suffrage, though the enormous expense
of contesting such constituencies practically left their representation
in the hands of the great local families. But even in the counties
the suffrage was ridiculously limited and unequal. Out of a
population of eight millions, only a hundred and sixty thousand
were electors at all. How far such a House was from really repre-
MODERN ENGLAND
1675
senting English opinion we see from the fact that in the height of
his popularity Pitt could hardly find a seat in it. Purchase was
becoming more and more the means of entering Parliament. Seats
were bought and sold in the open market at a price which rose to
four thousand pounds, and we can hardly wonder that a reformer
could allege without a chance of denial, " This House is not a
representative of the people of Great Britain. It is the representa-
tive of nominal boroughs, of ruined and exterminated towns, of
noble families, of wealthy individuals, of foreign potentates." The
meanest motives naturally told on a body returned by such con-
Sec. II
The Inde-
pendence
OF America
1761
TO
1782
George
and the
Parlia-
ment
TUL lLI,Li KIVKR.
Picture by S. Scott, c. 1750, Guildhall Art Gallery.
stitucncies, cut off from the influence of public opinion b}- the
secrecy of Parliamentary proceedings, and }-ct in\-cstcd with almost
boundless authority. Walpolc and Newcastle had made briber)'
and borough-jobbing the base of their power. George the Third
seized it in his turn as a base of the power he proposed to give to
the Crown. The royal revenue was employed to buy scats and to
buy votes. Day by day George himself scrutinized the voting-list
of the two Houses, and distributed rewards aiul i)unishincnts as
members voted according to his will or no. Promotion in the
civil service, prefcrincnt in the ("iiurcli, rank in the .iriny, was
reserved for " the King's friends." Pensions and couil |)],icrs wc-rc
1676 HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE chap.
Sec. II used to influence debates. Bribery was employed on a scale never
The Inde- known before. Under Bute's ministry an office was opened at the
PENDENCE
OF America Trcasur\' for thc purcliasc of members, and twcntv-fivc thousand
1761 ^ '■ . ^
TO pounds are said to have been spent in a single day.
— The result of these measures was soon seen in thc tone of thc
Bute Parliament. Till now it had bowed beneath the greatness of Pitt ;
but in thc teeth of his denunciation thc provisions of thc Peace of
Paris were approved by a majority of five to one. " Now indeed,"
cried the Princess Dowager, " my son is king." But the victor)- was
hardly won when King and minister found themselves battling with
a storm of popular ill-will such as never since the overthrow of the
Stuarts assailed the throne. Violent and reckless as it was, the
storm only marked a fresh advance in the rc-awakening of public
opinion. The Parliament indeed had become supreme, and in
theory the Parliament was a representative of the whole English
people. But in actual fact the bulk of the English people found
itself powerless to control thc course of English government. For
the first and last time in our history Parliament was unpopular and
its opponents sure of popularity. The House of Commons was
more corrupt than ever, and it was the slave of the King. The
King still called himself a Whig, yet he was reviving a system of
absolutism which Whiggism had long made impossible. His
minister was a mere favourite, and in Englishmen's eyes a
foreigner. The masses saw this, but they saw no way of mending
it. They had no means of influencing the Government they hated
save by sheer violence. They came therefore to the front with
their old national and religious bigotry, their long-nursed dislike of
the Hanoverian Court, their long-nursed habits of violence and
faction, their long-nursed hatred of Parliament, but with no means
of expressing them save riot and uproar. Bute found himself
the object of a sudden and universal hatred ; and in 1763 he with-
drew from office as a means of allaying the storm of popular
indignation. But the King was made of more stubborn stuff than
his minister. If he suffered his favourite to resign he still regarded
him as the real head of administration ; for the ministry which
Bute left behind him consisted simply of the more courtly of his
George coUcagucs. Georgc Grenville was its nominal chief, but its
renvi e j^g^g^res were still secreth' dictated b\- the favourite. Charles
X MODERN ENGLAND 1677
Townshend and the Duke of Bedford, the two ablest of the Whigs sec. ii
who had remained with Bute after Newcastle's dismissal, refused The inde-
PENDEN'CE
to join it ; and its one man of ability was Lord Shelburne, a young °^ America
Irishman. It was in fact onh* the disunion of its opponents which to
allowed it to hold its ground. Townshend and Bedford remained —
apart from the main body of the Whigs, and both sections held
aloof from Pitt. George had counted on the divisions of the
opposition in forming such a ministr}- ; and he counted on the
weakness of the ministry to make it the creature of his will. But
Grenville had no mind to be a puppet either of the King or of
Bute ; and the conflicts between the King and his minister soon
became so bitter that George appealed in despair to Pitt to form Aug-. 1763
a ministry. Never had Pitt shown a nobler patriotism or a
grander self-command than in the reception he gave to this
appeal. He set aside all resentment at his own expulsion from
office by Newcastle and the Whigs, and made the return to office
of the whole party, with the exception of Bedford, a condition of
his own. George however refused to comply with terms which
would have defeated his designs. The result left Grenville as
powerful as he had been weak. Bute ceased to exercise an\-
political influence. On the other hand, Bedford joined Grenville
with his whole party, and the ministry thus became strong and
compact.
Grenville's one aim was to enforce the supremacy of Parliament Quarrel
over subject as over King. He therefore struck fiercely at the new Press
force of opinion which had just shown its power in the fall of Bute.
The opinion of the countr}- no sooner found itself unrepresented in
Parliament than it sought an outlet in the Press. In spite of the
removal of the censorship after the Revolution the Press had been
slow to attain any political influence. Under the first two Georges
its progress had been hindered by the absence of great topics for
discussion, the worthlessness of the writers, and above all the
lethargy of the time. It was in fact not till the accession of
George the Third that the imjjulsc which Pitt h.ul gi\-cn to the
national spirit, and the ri.sc of a keener interest in politics, rai.scd
the Press into a political power. The nation found in it a court of
appeal from the Houses of Parliament. The journals liccamc
organs for that fjutburst of popular hatred whicli (lro\c Lord Hutc
1678
HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE
CHAP.
Sec II
The Inde-
pendence
OF America
1761
TO
1782
J oh n
Wilkes
Wilkes
expelled
from office ; and in the North Briton John Wilkes led the way by
denouncing the Cabinet and the Peace with peculiar bitterness, and
venturing to attack the hated minister by name. Wilkes was a
worthless profligate, but he had a remarkable faculty of enlisting
popular sympathy on his side, and by a singular irony of fortune
he became the chief instrument in bringing about three of the
greatest advances which our Constitution has ever made. He
woke the nation to a conviction of the need for Parliamentary
reform by his defence of the rights of constituencies against the
despotism of the House of Commons. He took the lead in
the struggle which put an end to the secrecy of Parliamentary
proceedings. He was the first to establish the right of the Press to
discuss public affairs. In his attack on the ministry of Lord Bute,
however, he was simply an organ of the general discontent. It
was indeed his attack which more than all else determined Bute
to withdraw from office. But Grenville was of stouter stuff than
the court favourite, and his administration was hardly reformed
when he struck at the growing opposition to Parliament by a blow
at its leader. In " Number 45 " of the North Briton Wilkes had
censured the speech from the throne at the opening of Parliament,
and a " general warrant " by the Secretary of State was issued
against the " authors, printers, and publishers of this seditious
libel." Under this warrant forty-nine persons were seized for a
time ; and in spite of his privilege as a member of Parliament
Wilkes himself was sent to the Tower. The arrest however was so
utterly illegal that he was at once released by the Court of
Common Pleas ; but he was immediately prosecuted for libel.
While the paper which formed the subject for prosecution was still
before the courts of justice it was condemned by the House of
Commons as a '' false, scandalous, and seditious libel." The House
of Lords at the same time voted a pamphlet found among Wilkes's
papers to be blasphemous, and advised a prosecution. Wilkes fled
to France, and was in 1764 expelled from the House of Commons.
But the assumption of an arbitrary judicial power by both Houses,
and the system of terror which Grenville put in force against the
Press by issuing two hundred injunctions against different journals,
roused a storm of indignation throughout the country. Every
street resounded with cries of " Wilkes and Liberty." It was soon
MODERN ENGLAND
1679
clear that opinion had been embittered rather than silenced by the Sf.c. ii
blow at Wilkes ; and six ^'ears later, the failure of the prosecution the inde-
' PENDENCE
directed against an anonymous journalist named "Junius" for his of America
Letter to the King established the right of the Press to criticize the
conduct not of ministers or Parliament only, but of the sovereign
himself
The same narrowness of view, the same honesty of purpose, the
same obstinac}- of temper, were shown by Grenville in a yet more
1782
The
Stamp
Act
"the city chanters"; a scene in the "wit.kes and ltrerty" riots.
Frotn engraving by S. Okey, 1775, 0/ n picture by John Collett.
important struggle, a struggle with the American Colonies. Titt
had waged war with characteristic profusion, and he had dcfra\'cd
the cost of the war by enormous loans. At the time of the Peace
of Paris the public debt stood at a hundred and fort)' million-^.
The first need therefore which met Bute after the conclusion of tin-
Peace was that of making provision for the new burthens wliich the
nation had incurred, and as these had been partl\' incurn-d in the
defence of the American Colonics it was the general opinii>n ol
Englishmen that the Colonics slujuld hear a shaic of tin in. In this
i68o HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE chap.
Sec. II opinion Bute and the King concurred. But their plans went further
The inde- than mere taxation. The new minister declared himself resolved
PENDENCE
OF America on a rigorous cxccution of the Navigation laws, laws by which a
1 76 1
TO monopol}- of American trade was secured to the mother-country,
— on the raising of a revenue within the Colonies for the discharge of
Bute and , , , ,1 n • • 1 1 • r
America the debt, and above all on impressing upon the colonists a sense of
their dependence upon Britain. The direct trade between America
and the French or Spanish West Indian islands had hitherto been
fettered by prohibitory duties, but these had been easily evaded by
a general system of smuggling. The duties were now reduced, but
the reduced duties were rigorously exacted, and a considerable
naval force was despatched to the American coast with a view of
suppressing the clandestine trade with the foreigner. The revenue
which was expected from this measure was to be supplemented by
an internal Stamp Tax, a tax on all legal documents issued within
the Colonies. The plans of Bute had fallen to the ground on his
Grc7iville's retirement from office. But Grenville had fully concurred in the
^° ^^-^ financial part at least of Bute's designs ; and, now that he found
himself, at the head of a strong administration, he proceeded to
carry out the plans which had been devised for the purpose of rais-
ing both an external and an internal revenue from America. One
of his first steps was to suppress, by a rigid enforcement of the
Navigation laws, the contraband trade which had grown up be-
tween American ports and the adjacent Spanish islands. Harsh
and unwise as these measures seemed, the colonists owned their
legality ; and their resentment only showed itself in a pledge to
use no British manufactures till the restrictions were relaxed. But
the next scheme of the Minister — his proposal to introduce internal
taxation within the bounds of the Colonies themselves by reviving
the project of an excise or stamp duty, which Walpole's good sense
had rejected — was of another order from his schemes for suppress-
ing the contraband traffic. Unlike the system of the Navigation
Acts, it was a gigantic change in the whole actual relations of
England and its Colonies. They met it therefore in another spirit.
Taxation and representation, they asserted, went hand in hand.
America had no representatives in the British Parliament. The
representatives of the colonists met in their own colonial assemblies,
and all save the Pcnnsylvanians protested strongly against the
MODERN ENGLAND
1681
interference of Parliament with their right of self-taxation. Sec. ii
Massachusetts marked accurately the position she took. " Prohibi- The inde-
pendence
tions of trade arc neither equitable nor just ; but the power of °^ America
taxing is the grand barrier of British liberty. If that is once
1761
1782
broken down, all is lost." The distinction was accepted by the '—
assembly of every colony ; and it was with their protest that they ^ni'ssil
despatched Benjamin Franklin, who had risen from his position of 1765
BENJAMIN I'KANKMX.
Meciallion by Nini, in the National Portrait Gallery.
a working printer in Philadelphia to high repute among scientific
discoverers, as their agent to England. In England however,
Franklin found few who recognized the distinction which the
colonists had drawn. Grcnvillc had no mind to change his plans
without an assurance, which Franklin could not give, of a union
of the Colonies to tax thcm.sclvcs ; and the Stamp Act was pas.scd
through both Hou.ses with less oj^position than a turnpike bill.
The Stamp Act was hardly passed when an insult ollcrt'd to ihr
i682
HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE
CHAP.
Sec. II
The Inde-
penden'ce
OF America
1761
TO
1782
The
Rock-
ingham
Ministry
Princess Dowager, by the exclusion of her name from a Regency
Act, brought to a head the quarrel which had long been growing
between the ministry and the King. George again offered power
to William Pitt. But Pitt stood absolutely alone. The one friend
who remained to him, his brother-in-law, Lord Temple, refused to
aid in an attempt to construct a Cabinet ; and he felt himself too
weak, when thus deserted, to hold his ground in any ministerial
combination with the Whigs. The King turned for help to the
main body of the Whigs, now headed by the Marquis of Rock-
ingham. The weakness of the ministry which Rockingham formed
in Jul}-, 1765, was seen in its slowness to deal with American
affairs. Franklin had seen no other course for the Colonies, when
the obnoxious Acts were
passed, but that of sub-
mission. But submission
was the last thing the col-
onists dreamed of. Every-
where through New Eng-
land riots broke out on the
news of the arrival of the
stamped paper ; and the
frightened collectors re-
signed their posts. North-
ern and Southern States were drawn together by the new danger.
The assembly of Virginia was the first to formally deny the right
of the British Parliament to meddle with internal taxation,
and to demand the repeal of the acts. Massachusetts not only
adopted the denial and the demand as its own, but proposed a
Congress of delegates from all the colonial assemblies to provide
for common and united action ; and in October 1765 this Congress
met to repeat the protest and petition of Virginia. The news of its
assembly reached England at the end of the year, and at once
called Pitt to the front when the Houses met in the spring of 1766.
As a minister he had long since rejected a similar scheme for tax-
ing the colonies. He had been ill and absent from Parliament
when the Stamp Act was passed, but he adopted to the full the
constitutional claim of America. He gloried in a resistance which
was denounced in Parliament as rebellion. " In my opinion," he
^^.
From Harper's Magazine.— Copyright, 1876, by Harper & Brothers.
BRITISH STAMPS FOR AMERICA.
MODERN ENGLAND
1683
said, " this kingdom has no right to lay a tax on the colonics.
Sec. II
America is obstinate ! America is almost in open rebellion ! Sir, I Tke imde-
'■ ' PENDENCE
OF America
1761
TO
1782
slaves would have been fit instruments to make slaves of the rest." —
rejoice that America has resisted. Three millions of people so
dead to all the feelings of liberty as voluntarily to submit to be
EDMUND BURKE.
Picture by Sir J. Reynolds in National Portrait Gallery.
There was a general desire that Tilt slioukl return to fjfficc ; but Repeal
the negotiations for his union witli tlie Whigs broke down. The stamp
radical difference between their ])f)licy and that of I'itt was nciw in ^"^^
fact defined for them by the keenest poh'tical thinker of tin- (la\-.
I'^dmund l^urke had come to London in 1 750 as a poor and un- i-\i,„,iud
known h'ish adventurer. The learning which at once won him the Utirkv
friendship of Johnson, and the imaginati\c ])o\\cr wliich ni.iblcd
Vol, IV— Takt 36 5 <J
1684
HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE
CHAP.
Sec. II him to give his learning a living shape, promised him a philo-
The inde- sophical and literary career : but instinct drew Burke to politics ;
PENDENXE
OF America j^g bccamc Secretary to Lord Rockingham, and in 1765 entered
Parliament under his patronage. His speeches on the Stamp Acts
1782
at once lifted him into fame. The heavy Quaker-like figure, the
scratch wig, the round spectacles, the cumbrous roll of paper which
loaded Burke's pocket, gave little promise of a great orator and less
of the characteristics of his oratory — its passionate ardour, its
poetic fancy, its amazing prodi-
gality of resources ; the dazzling
succession in which iron}-, pathos,
invective, tenderness, the most
brilliant word-pictures, the cool-
est argument followed each
other. It was an eloquence in-
deed of a wholly new order in
English experience. Walpole's
clearness of statement, Pitt's ap-
peals to emotion, were exchanged
for the impassioned expression
of a distinct philosophy of poli-
tics. " I have learned more from
him than from all the books I
ever read," Fox cried at a later
time, with a burst of generous
admiration. The philosophical
cast of Burke's reasoning was
unaccompanied by any philoso-
phical coldness of tone or phrase. The groundwork indeed of his
nature was poetic. His ideas, if conceived by the reason, took shape
and colour from the splendour and fire of his imagination. A nation
was to him a great living society, so complex in its relations, and
whose institutions were so interwoven with glorious events in the
past, that to touch it rudely was a sacrilege. Its constitution was
no artificial scheme of government, but an exquisite balance of
social forces which was in itself a natural outcome of its history and
developement. His temper was in this way conservative, but his
conservatism sprang not from a love of inaction but from a sense of
BURKE AS ORATOR.
Satirical sketch by Sayer, 1782.
MODERN ENGLAND
1685
the value of social order, and from an imaginative reverence for all Se.-. ii
that existed. Every institution was hallowed to him by the clear The inde-
insight with which he discerned its relations to the past, and its ""^ America
subtle connexion with the social fabric around it. To touch even to
1782
" THt: ASlONIblllNG CUALI IIO.N — NIUl UKR WAR NUR I'EACE.
Satire on Bur/a-, Fox and .Xort/i, by J. Gillray, 178J.
an anomaly seemed to Ikn-ke to be risking the ruin of a complex
structure of national order which it had cost centuries to buikl up.
"The equilibrium of the Constitution," he said, "has something so
delicate about it, that the least displacement may destroy it." " It
is a difficult and dangerous matter even to t(juch so comphcated a
5 ^i. 2
,686 HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE chap.
Sec. 11 machine."' Perhaps the readiest refutation of such a theory was
The Indk- to be fouutl in its influence on lUn-kc's practical dealing with
I'ENOENCK . 1 • 1 r 11- 1
OK A.MERICA poHtics. In tlic great question niclccd wiiicli fronted nim as he
'?o' entered Parhamcnt, it served him well. No man has ever seen
with deeper insiij^ht the working of those natural forces which build
fj'Z/ up communities, or which group communities into empires ; and in
/>o/i/i,s ^^^^ actual state of the American Colonies he saw a result of such
forces which only madmen and pedants would disturb. But
lUn-kc's theory was less fitted to the state of politics at home. He
looked on the Revolution of i688 as the final establishment of
English institutions. His aim was to keep PIngland as the
Revolution had left it, and under the rule of the great nobles who
were faithful to the Revolution. He gave his passionate adhesion
to the inaction of the Whigs. He made an idol of Lord Rocking-
ham, an honest man, but the weakest of party leaders. He strove
to check the corruption of Parliament by a bill for civil retrench-
ment, but he took the lead in defeating all plans for its reform.
Though he was one of the i^cw men in England who understood
with Pitt the value of free industry, he struggled bitterly against
the young Minister's proposals to give freedom to Irish trade, and
against his Commercial Treaty with France. His work seemed to
be that of investing with a gorgeous poetry the policy of timid
content which the Whigs believed they inherited from Sir Robert
Walpole ; and the ver}' intensit)- of his trust in the natural devclope-
ment of a people rendered him incapable of understanding the
good that might come from particular laws or from special reforms.
At this crisis then the temper of Burke squared with the temper of
the Whig party. Rockingham and his fellow-ministers were
driven, whether the}- would or no, to a practical acknowledgement
of the policy which Pitt demanded ; but they resolved that the
repeal of the Stamp Acts should be accompanied by a formal
repudiation of the principles of colonial freedom which Pitt had
laid down. A declaratory act was brought in, which asserted the
supreme power of Parliament over the Colonies " in all cases what-
soever." The passing of this act was followed by the introduction
Feb. 1766 of a bill for the repeal of the Stamp Acts ; and in spite of
the resistance of the King's friends, a resistance instigated by
George himself, the bill was carried b)- a large majority.
X MODERN ENGLAND 1687
From this moment the Ministry was unable to stand against Sec. 11
the general sense that the first man in the country should be its the inde-
ruler, and bitter as was the King's hatred of him, he was forced to "'' -^i^'erica
'^ 1761
call Pitt into office. Pitt's aim was still to unite the Whig party, to
1782
and though forsaken by Lord Temple, he succeeded to a great —
extent in the administration which he formed in the summer of Chatham
1766. Though Rockingham stood coldly aside, some of his fellow Ministry
ministers accepted ofifice, and they were reinforced by the few
friends who clung to Pitt ; while Pitt stooped to strengthen his
Parliamentary support by admitting some even of the " King's
friends " to a share in the administration. But its life lay really in
Pitt himself, in his immense popularity, and in the command which
his eloquence gave him over the House of Commons. His
acceptance of the Earldom of Chatham removed him to the House 1766
of Lords, and for a while ruined the confidence which his reputa-
tion for unselfishness had aided him to win. But it was from no
vulgar ambition that Pitt laid down his title of the Great Com-
moner. It was the consciousness of failing strength which made
him dread the storms of debate, and in a few months the dread
became a certainty. A painful and overwhelming illness, the
result of nervous disorganization, withdrew him from public
affairs; and his withdrawal robbed his colleagues of all vigour or 1767
union. The plans which Chatham had set on foot for the better
government of Ireland, the transfer of India from the Company to
the Crown, and the formation of an alliance with Prussia and
Russia to balance the Family Compact of the House of Bourbon,
were suffered to drop. The one aim of the ministry which bore his
name, and which during his retirement looked to the Duke of
Grafton as its actual head, was simply to exist. But even exist-
ence was difficult ; and Grafton saw himself forced to a union with
the faction which was gathered under the Duke of Bedford, and to
the appointment of a Tory noble as Secretary of State,
The force of public opinion on which Pitt had relied turned at Wilkes
, .. 1-111 i-rir • r and the
once agamst the muiistry winch had so dnited from its former pariia-
position. The elections for the new Parliament were more corrui)t "^^"*
than any that had been yet witnessed. How bitter the indignation
of the country had grown was seen in its fresh backing of Wilkes.
He seized on the opening afforded by the elections to return from
CHAP. X MODERN ENGLAND 1689
France, and was elected member for Middlesex, a county the large sec. ii
number of whose voters made its choice a real expression of public the inde-
opinion. The choice of Wilkes was in effect a public condemnation of America
of the House of Commons and the ministerial system. The minis- to
try however and the House alike shrank from a fresh struggle with ^U
the agitator ; but the King was eager for the contest. After ten '^
years of struggle and disappointment George had all but reached
his aim. The two forces which had as yet worsted him v;ere both
of them paralyzed. The Whigs were fatally divided, and dis-
credited in the eyes of the country by their antagonism to Pitt.
Pitt, on the other hand, was suddenly removed from the stage.
The ministry was without support in the country ; and for Parlia-
mentary support it was forced to lean more and more on the men
who looked for direction to the King himself One form of oppo-
sition alone remained in the public discontent ; and at this he
struck more fiercely than ever. " I think it highly expedient to
apprise you," he wrote to Lord North, " that the expulsion of Mr.
Wilkes appears to be very essential, and must be effected." The
Ministers and the House of Commons bowed to his will. By his
non-appearance in court when charged with libel, Wilkes had
become an outlaw, and he was now thrown into prison on his
outlawry. Dangerous riots broke out in London and over the
whole countr}'. The Ministry were torn with dissensions. The
announcement of Lord Shelburne's purpose to resign office was j^esip-na-
followcd by the resignation of Chatham himself; and his with- X'^'',*^
•^ '^ ' Chatham
drawal from the Cabinet which traded on his name left the Minis- 176S
try wholly dependent on the King. In 1769 Wilkes was brought
before the bar of the House of Commons on a charge of libel, a
crime which was cognizable in the ordinary courts of law ; and
was expelled from Parliament. He was at once re-elected by^ the
shire of Middlesex. Violent and oppressive as the course of the
House of Commons had been, it had as yet acted within its strict
right, for no one questioned its possession of a right of expulsion.
But the defiance of Middlesex led it now to go further. It
resolved, " That Mr. Wilkes having been in this session of Parlia-
ment expelled the House, was and is incapable of being elected a
member to serve in the present Parliament ; " and it issued a writ
for a fresh clcctic^n. Middlesex answered this insolent claim to
1690
HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE
CHAP.
Sec. II
The Inde-
pendence
OF America
1761
TO
1782
in/ikfs
expelled
limit the free choice of a constituency by again returning Wilkes ;
and the House was driven by its anger to a fresh and more out-
rageous usurpation. It again expelled the member for Middlesex ;
and on his return for the third time by an immense majority, it
voted that the candidate whom he had defeated, Colonel Luttrell,
ought to have been returned, and was the legal representative of
Middlesex. The Commons had not only limited at their own
arbitrary discretion the free election of the constituency, but they
had transferred its rights to themselves by seating Luttrell as
member in defiance of the deliberate choice of Wilkes by the free-
holders of Middlesex. The country at once rose indignantly
against this violation of constitutional law. Wilkes was elected
FKOMISPIECE TO MIDDLESEX iElj
V, i'r-j-
an Alderman of London ; and the Mayor, Aldermen, and Livery
petitioned the King to dissolve the Parliament. A remonstrance
from London and Westminster said boldly that " there is a time
when it is clearly demonstrable that men cease to be representa-
tives. That time is now arrived. The House of Commons do not
represent the people." Meanwhile a writer who styled himself
Junius attacked the Government in letters, which, rancorous and
unscrupulous as was their tone, gave a new power to the literature
of the Press by their clearness and terseness of statement, the finish
_ ,. of their style, and the terrible vigour of their invective.
Parlia- ^ ' '^
ment The storm however beat idly on the obstinacy of the King,
and
Reform The printer of the letters was prosecuted, and the petitions and
MODERN ENGLAND
1691
remonstrances of London were haughtily rejected. At the be- sec. ii
ginninw of I770 a cessation of the disease which had long held The inde-
"^ ' ' "^ I'ENDENCE
him prostrate enabled Chatham to reappear in the House of Lords. °^ amekica
He at once denounced
the usurpations of the
Commons, and brought
in a bill to declare them
illegal. But his genius
made him the first to
see that remedies of this
sort were inadequate to
meet evils which really
sprang from the fact that
the House of Commons
no longer represented the
people of England ; and
he mooted a plan for its
reform by an increase of
the county members, who
then formed the most
independent portion of
the House. Further he
could not go, for even
in the proposals he
made he stood almost
alone. The Tories and
the King's friends were
not likely to welcome
schemes which would
lessen the King's influ-
ence. The Whigs under
Lord Rockingham had
no sympathy with Par-
liamentary reform ; and they shrank with haught)' disdain
from the popular agitation in which public opinion was
forced to express itself, and which Chatham, while censuring
its extravagance, deliberately encouraged. It is from the
quarrel between Wilkes and the House of Commons that
TO
1782
His Speech
to His Majesty Kmr, Cf.orge the mf j
on the litoiyiajijyo.
BECKFORDS MONUMENT IN THE
GUILDHALL.
1692 HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE chap.
sfc. II we may date the influence of public meetings on English
the"u.dk- politics. The gatherings of the Middlesex electors in his sup-
OK America pQ^t were prcludcs to the great meetings ot Yorkshire tree-
'to' holders in which the question of I'arliamentary reform rose
'^ ' into importance ; and it was in the movement for reform, and
the establishment of corresponding committees throughout
the country for the purpose of promoting it, that the power
of political agitation first made itself felt. Political societies
and clubs took their part in this quickening and organization
of public opinion : and the spread of discussion, as well as the
influence which now began to be exercised by the appearance
of vast numbers of men in support of any political movement,
proved that Parliament would soon have to reckon with the
sentiments of the people at large.
Power But an agent far more effective than popular agitation was
Press preparing to bring the force of public opinion to bear on Parlia-
ment itself We have seen how much of the corruption of the
House of Commons sprang from the secrecy of Parliamentary
proceedings, but this secrecy was the harder to preserve as the
nation woke to a greater interest in its own affairs. From the
accession of the Georges imperfect reports of the more important
discussions began to be published under the title of " The Senate
of Lilliput," and with feigned names or simple initials to denote
the speakers. Obtained by stealth and often merely recalled by
memory, such reports were naturally inaccurate ; and their inaccu-
racy was eagerly seized on as a pretext for enforcing the rules
which guarded the .secrecy of proceedings in Parliament. In 1771
the Commons issued a proclamation forbidding the publication of
debates ; and six printers, who set it at defiance, were summoned
to the bar of the House. One who refused to appear was arrested
by its messenger ; but the arrest at once brought the House into
conflict with the magistrates of London. They set aside the
proclamation as without legal force, released the printers, and sent
the messenger to prison for unlawful arrest. The House sent the
Lord Mayor to the Tower, but the cheers of the crowds which
followed him on his way told that public opinion was again with
the Press, and the attempt to hinder its publication of Parlia-
mentar\- proceedings dropped silently on his release at the next
MODERN ENGLAND
1693
prorogation. Few changes of equal importance have been so
quietly brought about. Not only was the responsibility of
members to their constituents made constant and effective by the
publication of their proceedings, but the nation itself was called
in to assist in the deliberations of its representatives. A new and
wider interest in its own affairs was roused in the people at large,
and a new political education was given to it through the dis-
cussion of every
subject of national
importance in the
Houses and the
Press. Public opin-
ion, as gathered up
and represented on
all its sides by the
journals of the day,
became a force
in practical states-
manship, influenced
the course of de-
bates, and con-
trolled in a closer
and more constant
way than even Par-
liament itself had
been able to do the
actions of the Gov-
ernment. The im-
portance of its new
position gave a
weight to the Press which it had never had before. The first great
English journals date from this time. With the Morning CJironick,
the Morning Post, the Morning Herald, 7\.x\A the Times, ?i\\ of which
appeared in the interval between the opening j'cars of the American
War and the beginning of the war with the French Revolution, jour-
nalism took a new tone of responsibility and intelligence. The
hacks of Grub Street were suijcrseded In- publicists of a high moral
temper and literar)- excellence ; and philosophers like ("olcritlgcor
Sec. II
The Inde-
pendence
of .a.merica
1761
TO
1782
.... ~rr- — -',-s^'j»t^^iyg
y
^
fe«
s^ JlJC^,^^^ -^
/
^10
JrT^piBp^^^ffl
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¥ --
W
>i?^
^^ T'^
-
\S ' -fl' :
. . ._rf<r_^-*.
^ 7 V
'"^^i^Mlrl'iiT^lr
^^
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iPpIL
^ ^j^g^-^3^g|g2^
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■. ..r,;-
^::
,>..7^-M,_,-.::;;.?^^^
"A POLITICIAN.'
After W. Hogarth.
i604
HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE
CHAP.
Sec. II Statesmen like Canning turned to influence public opinion through
Bui as yet these influences were feebly felt, and George the
Third was able to set Chatham's policy disdainfully aside, and to
The Indk- the columus of the Press.
FENUKNCI-:
OK America
1761
TO
I "8''
'-" plunge into a contest far more disastrous than his contest with
m.°Lnd the Press. In all the proceedings of the last few years, what had
America ^^.^n^^^^i j^j,^^ ^^^^^ \^^^\ been the act which averted a war between
England and her colonies. To the King the Americans were
already " rebels," and the great statesman whose eloquence had
ahettiih. rfu.
^j&TM^^^^^
CHART OF BOSTON HARBOUR, 1 733.
Drawins: in British Museiciii.
made their claims irresistible was a " trumpet of sedition."
George deplored in his correspondence with his ministers the
repeal of the Stamp Acts. " All men feel," he wrote, " that the
fatal compliance in 1766 has increased the pretensions of the
Americans to absolute independence." In America itself the
news of the repeal had been received with universal joy, and taken
as a close of the strife. Put on both sides there remained a pride
and irritabilit}' which only wise handling could have alla\-ed ; and
in the present state of English politics wise handling was
MODERN ENGLAND
1695
impossible. Only a few months indeed passed before the quarrel Sec. ii
was re-opened ; for no sooner had the illness of Lord Chatham The Inde-
'■ PENDEN'CE
removed him in 1767 from any real share in public affairs, than of America
the wretched administration which bore his name suspended the
Assembly of New York on its refusal to provide quarters for
English troops, and resolved to assert British sovereignty by
levying import duties of trivial amount at American ports. The
Assembly of Massachusetts was dissolved on a trifling quarrel with
its Governor, and Boston was occupied for a time by British
soldiers. The remonstrances of the Legislatures of Massachusetts
TO
1782
LANDING OF BRITISH TROOPS AT BOSTON, 1 768.
Contemporary engraving by Paul Revere.
and Virginia, however, coupled with a fall in the funds, warned the
Ministers of the dangerous course on which they had entered ;
and in 1769 the troops were withdrawn, and all duties, save one,
abandoned. But the King insisted on retaining the duty on tea ;
and its retention was enough to prevent any thorough restoration
of good feeling. A series of petty quarrels went on in almost
every colony between the popular Assemblies and the Governors
appointed by the Crown, and the colonists persisted in their
agreement to import nothing from the mother country. As )-et
however there was no prospect of serious strife. In America the
influence of George Washington allayed the irritation of Virginia.
1696 HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE chap.
Sec. 11 Massachusetts contented itself with quarrelling with its Governor,
ThTTsde- and refusing to buy tea so long as the duty was levied. In
OF amekica England, even Grenville, though approving the retention ol the
'to^ duty in question, abandoned all dream of further taxation.
\ls Hut the King was now supreme. The attack of Chatham in
kL^k^ ^77^ l^'^*-^ completed the ruin of the Ministry. Those of his
Ministry ^'i(_ihc rents who still clung to it resigned their posts ; and were
followed by the Duke of Grafton. All that remained were the
Bedford faction and the dependents of the King ; these were
gathered under the former Chancellor of the Exchequer, Lord
North, into a ministry which was in fact a mere cloak for the
direction of public affairs by George himself. " Not only did he
direct the minister," a careful observer tells us, " in all important
matters of foreign and domestic policy, but he instructed him as
to the management of debates in Parliament, suggested what
motions should be made or opposed, and how measures should be
carried. He reserved for himself all the patronage, he arranged
the whole cast of administration, settled the relative place and
pretensions of ministers of State, law officers, and members of the
household, nominated and promoted the English and Scotch judges,
appointed and translated bishops and deans, and dispensed other
preferments in the Church. He disposed of military governments,
regiments, and commissions, and himself ordered the marching of
troops. He gave and refused titles, honours, and pensions." All
this immense patronage was steadily used for the creation and
maintenance in both Houses of Parliament of a majorit}- directed
by the King himself ; and its weight was seen in the steady action
of such a majority. It was seen yet more in the subjection to
which the ministry that bore North's name was reduced. George
was in fact the minister through the twelve years of its existence,
from 1770 till the close of the American war ; and the shame of the
darkest hour of English history lies wholly at his door.
The His fixed purpose was to seize on the first opportunity of
^Tea°" undoing the " fatal compliance of 1766." A trivial riot gave him
Riots the handle he wanted. In December 1773 the arrival of some
English ships laden with tea kindled fresh irritation in Boston,
where the non-importation agreement was strictly enforced. A
mob in the disguise of Indians boarded the vessels and flung their
X MODERN ENGLAND 1697
contents into the sea. The outrage was deplored alike by the sec. 11
friends of America in England and by its own leading statesmen ; the inue-
PENDENCE
and both Washington and Chatham were prepared to support the °^ America
1761
Government in its looked-for demand of redress. But the thought to
1782
of the King was not of redress but of repression, and he set roughly —
aside the more conciliatory proposals of Lord North and his
fellow-ministers. They had already rejected as " frivolous and
vexatious " a petition of the Assembly of Massachusetts for the
dismissal of two public officers whose letters home advised the
withdrawal of free institutions from the Colonies. They now seized
on the riot as a pretext for rigorous measures. A bill introduced
into Parliament in the beginning of 1774 punished Boston by
closing its port against all commerce. Another punished the State
of Massachusetts by withdrawing the liberties it had enjoyed ever
since the Pilgrim Fathers landed on its soil. Its charter was
altered. The choice of its Council was transferred from the people
to the Crown, and the nomination of its judges was transferred to
the Governor. In the Governor, too, by a provision more outrageous
"than even these, was vested the right of sending all persons charged
with a share in the late disturbances to England for trial. To
enforce these measures of repression troops were sent to America,
and General Gage, the commander-in-chief there, was appointed
Governor of Massachusetts. The King's exultation at the prospect
before him was unbounded. " The die," he wrote triumphantly to
his minister, " is cast. The Colonies must either triumph or
submit." Four regiments would be enough to bring the Americans
to their senses. They would only be " lions while we are lambs."
"If we take the resolute part," he decided solemnly, "they will
undoubtedly be very meek." Unluckily, the blow at Massachusetts
was received with anything but meekness. The jealousies between Resist-
State and State were hushed by the sense that the liberties of all ""^'^ ?f
J A mcrica
were in danger. If the British Parliament could cancel the charter
of Massachusetts and ruin the trade of Boston, it could cancel the
charter of every colony and ruin the trade of every port from the
St. Lawrence to the coast of Georgia. All therefore adopted the
cause of Massachusetts ; and all their Legislatures, save that of
Georgia, sent delegates to a Congress which assembled on the- 4th
of September at Phihulclphia. Massachusetts took a }'ct holder
r,E(.>Kr, K WAS 1 1 1 NGTUX.
Picture by Gilbert Stuart, in possession of the Earl of Roscbery.
CHAP. X MODERN ENGLAND 1699
course. Not a citizen would act under the new laws. Its Assembly Sec. ii
met in defiance of the Governor, called out the militia of the State, The Inde.
PENDENXE
and provided arms and ammunition for it. But there was still room °^ ameuica
^ 1761
for reconciliation. The resolutions of the Congress had been to
moderate ; for Virginia was the wealthiest and most influential - —
among the States who sent delegates ; and though resolute to
resist the new measures of the Government, Virginia still clung to
the mother country. At home, the merchants of London and
Bristol pleaded loudly for reconciliation ; and in January 1775
Chatham again came forward to avert a strife he had once before
succeeded in preventing. With characteristic largeness of feeling
he set aside all half-measures or proposals of compromise. " It is
not cancelling a piece of parchment," he insisted, " that can win
back America : you must respect her fears and her resentments."
The bill which he introduced in concert with Franklin provided for
the repeal of the late acts and for the security of the colonial charters,
abandoned the claim to taxation, and ordered the recall of the
troops. A colonial assembly was directed to meet and provide
means by which America might contribute towards the payment
of the public debt.
Chatham's measure was contemptuously rejected by the Lords, The In-
depend-
as was a similar measure of Burke's by the Commons, and a ence of
petition of the City of London in favour of the Colonies by the m^^^a
King himself. With the rejection of these efforts at reconciliation
began the great struggle which ended eight years later in the
severance of the American Colonies from the British Crown. The
Congress of delegates from the Colonial Legislatures at once voted
measures for general defence, ordered the levy of an army, and set
George Washington at its head. No nobler figure ever stood in Ccor^e
the forefront of a nation's life. Washington was grave and ^f'"x^""g-
^ ^ ton
courteous in address ; his manners were simple and unpretend-
ing, his silence and the serene calmness of his temper spoke of
a perfect self-mastery; but there was little in his outer bearing
to reveal the grandeur of soul which lifts his figure, with all the
simple majesty of an ancient statue, out of the smaller passions,
the meaner impulses of the world around him. What recom-
mended him for command was simj)!}- his weight among his
fellow landowners of Virginia, and the experience of war which
Vol.. IV— Pakt 37 5 K
1700
HISTORY OK THE ExXGLISH PEOPLE
CHAP.
Sec. II he had stained by service in border contests with the French and
The iNDE- the Indians, as well as in Braddock's Uicklcss expedition a'^ainst
I'ENUENCE
OK America p^j-j. Duquesnc. It was Only as the weary fight went on that the
colonists learned little by little the greatness of their leader, his
TO
1 78:
clear judgement, his heroic endurance, his silence under difficulties,
his calmness in the hour of tlanger or defeat, the patience with
which he waited, the quickness and hardness with which he struck,
the lofty and serene sense of duty that never swerved from its task
AMERICAN RIFLEMAN.
AMERICAN GENERAL.
E Barnard^ "'History of England," 17^0.
through resentment or jealousy, that never through war or peace
felt the touch of a meaner ambition, that knew no aim save that of
guarding the freedom of his fellow countr\-mcn, and no personal
longing save that of returning to his own fireside when their
freedom was secured. It was almost unconsciously that men
learned to cling to Washington with a trust and faith such as few
other men have won, and to regard him with a reverence which
still hushes us in presence of his memory. Even America hardly
MODERN ENGLAND
1701
recognised his real greatness till death set its seal on " the man Sec. 11
first in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his fellow The inde
' Sr ' PENDEN'CE
countrymen." Washington more than any of his fellow colonists
represented the clinging of the Virginian landowners to the mother-
country, and his acceptance of the command proved that even the
most moderate among them had no hope now save in arms. The
struggle opened with a skirmish between a party of English troops -^P'^'^^IIS
and a detachment of militia at Lexington, and in a few days
twenty thousand colonists appeared before Boston. The Congress
OK America
1761
1782
Opening
of the IV a r
AliACK UN BUNKERS HILL ANU BUKMNci OF CHARLES 1 OWN.
Barnard, '^ History of England " 1790.
re-assembled, declared the States they represented " The United
Colonies of America," and undertook the work of government.
Meanwhile ten thousand fresh troops landed at Boston ; but the
provincial militia seized the neck of ground which joins it to the
mainland, and though they were driven from the heights of June 17
Bunker's Hill which commanded the town, it was only after a
desperate struggle in which their braver)- put an end for c\er to
the taunts of cowardice which had been levclletl . against the
colonists. "Are the Yankees cowards.'" shouted tlic men of
5 K 2
HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE
CHAP.
1782
Sec. II Massachusetts, as the first Engh'sh attack rollctl back baffled down
The Indk- thc hill-sidc. lUit a far truer courac^e was shown in the stubborn
I'ENDESth
OF America cndurancc with which Washington's raw militiamen, who gradually
dwindled from sixteen thousand to ten, ill fed, ill armed, and with
but fort\'-five rounds of ammunition to each man, cooped up
through the winter a force of ten thousand \-cterans in the lines
of Boston. Thc spring of 1776 saw them force these troops to
withdraw from the city to New York, where the whole Ih'itish
army, largely reinforced by mercenaries from Germany, was
MEDAL COM.MEMOKATING SIEGE OF LOSTON, I776.
(Reverse.)
concentrated under General Howe. Meanwhile a raid of the
American General, Arnold, ncarh' drove the British troops from
Canada ; and though his attempt broke down before Quebec, it
showed that all hope of reconciliation was over. The Colonies of
the south, the last to join in the struggle, had in fact expelled
their Governors at the close of 1775 ; at the opening of the next
year Massachusetts instructed its delegates to support a complete
repudiation of thc King's government by the Colonies ; while the
American ports were thrown open to the world in defiance of the
MODERN ENGLAND
1703
Navigation Acts. These decisive steps were followed by the great Sec. ii
act with which American history begins, the adoption on the 4th i'he Inde-
HENDENCE
of July, 1776, by the delegates in Congress of a Declaration of >Jf America
Independence. " We," ran its solemn words, " the representatives to
of the United States of America in Congress assembled, appeal- —
ing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of //^^ ^f
our intentions, solemnly publish and declare that these United ^«^^A-_"«'-
mi:d.\i. commemoratinc; dkci^akation of independenck, 1776.
Snowdcn, " Medals of Washington. "
Colonics are, and of right ought to be, Free and Independent
States."
The earlier successes of the Colonists were soon followed by Death of
.suffering and defeat. Howe, an active general with a fine arni\- at ^''^'^^"^
his back, cleared Long Island in August by a victory at ]5rookI>-n ;
and Washington, whose army was weakened by withdrawals and
defeat, and disheartened by the loyal tone of the State in w hich it
1704
lllSi'OKV Ui' THE ENGLISH PEOPLE
CHAP.
TO
1782
Sec. II was ciicampcd, was forced to evacuate New York and New Jersey,
THn^DE- and to fall back first on the Hudson and then on the Delaware.
PENDENCE „ r i^l -1 1 1 1 • 1 1
OF America "phc Conercss prepared to flv from Philadelphia, and a general
1761 & Jr 1
despair showed itself in cries of peace. But a well-managed
surprise and a daring march on the rear of Howe's army restored
the spirits of Washington's men, and forced the English general
in his turn to fall back on New York. The campaign of 1777
opened with a combined effort for the suppression of the revolt.
An army assembled in Canada under General Burgoyne marched
by way of the Lakes to seize the line of the Hudson, and with
help from the army at New York to cut off New England from
her sister provinces. Howe meanwhile sailed up the Chesapeake,
and advanced on Philadelphia, the tem-
poral'}' capital of the United States and
the seat of the Congress. The rout of his
little arm\- of seven thousand men at Bran-
dywinc forced Washington to abandon
Philadelphia, and, after a bold but unsuc-
cessful attack on his victors, to retire into
winter quarters on the banks of the
Schu)-lkill ; where the unconquerable re-
solve with which he nerved his handful of
beaten and half-starved troops to face
Howe's army in their camp at Valley Forge
is the noblest of his triumphs. But in
the North the war had taken another colour. When Burgoyne
appeared on the Upper Hudson he found the road to Albany
barred b}- an American force under General Gates. The spirit of
New England, which had grown dull as the war rolled away from
its borders, quickened again at the news of imasion and of the
outrages committed by the Lidians whom Burgo}-nc emplo)-ed
among his troops. Its militia hurried from town and homestead
to the camp ; and after a fruitless attack on the American lines,
Saratoga Burgoyne saw himself surrounded on the heights of Saratoga. On
the 17th of October he was compelled to surrender. The news of
this calamity gave force to the words with which Chatham at the
very time of the surrender was pressing for peace. " You cannot
conquer America," he cried when men were glorying in Llowe's
THE LIBERTY BELI,,
PHILADELPHIA.
Los sin ff, " Cyclo/>adta of
United States History."
MODERN ENGLAND 1705
successes. " If I were an American as I am an Englishman, while Sec. ii
a foreign troop was landed in my country, I never would lay down The inde-
O J- J ^ ' * PENDENCE
my arms — never, never, never!" Then in a burst of indignant ofa^'|r>ca
eloquence he thundered against the use of the Indian and his to
i ^ 1782
scalping-knife as allies of England against her children. The -—
•^ ° 1 • i. ■ Chatham &
proposals which Chatham brought forward might perhaps, ni his proposals
hands, even yet have drawn America and the mother country
together. His plan was one of absolute conciliation, and of a
federal union between the settlements and Great Britain which
would have left the Colonies absolutely their own masters in all
matters of internal government, and linked only by ties of affection
and loyalty to the general body of the Empire. But it met with
the same fate as his previous proposals. Its rejection was at once
followed by the news of Saratoga, and by the yet more fatal news
that this disaster had roused the Bourbon Courts to avenge the
humiliation of the Seven Years' War. In February 1778 France
concluded an alliance with the States. Lord North strove to meet
the blow b\' fresh offers of conciliation, and by a pledge to
renounce for ever the right of direct taxation over the Colonies ;
but he felt that the time for conciliation was past, while all hope
of reducing America by force of arms had disappeared. George
indeed was as obstinate for war as ever ; and the country, stung to
the quick by the attack of France, backed passionately the
obstinacy of the King. But unlike George the Third, it instinc-
tively felt that if a hope still remained of retaining the friendship
of the Colonies, and of baffling the efforts of the Bourbons, it lay
in Lord Chatham ; and in spite of the King's resistance the voice
of the whole country called him back to power. But on the eve
of his return to office this last chance was shattered by the hand of
death. Broken with age and disease, the Earl was borne to the
House of Lords to utter in a few broken words his protest against April ^
the proposal to surrender America. " I rejoice," he murmured,
"that I am still alive to lift up my voice against the dismember-
ment of this ancient and noble monarchy. His Majesty succeeded
to an Empire as great in extent as its reputation was unsullied.
Seventeen years ago this people was the terror of the workl." lie
listened impatiently to the reply of the l^uke of Riclnnond. and
again rose to his feet. Bui he had hardl)- risen whuii lie prcssctl
CHAP. X MODERN ENGLAND
1707
his hand upon his heart, and falling back in a swoon was borne sec. ii
home to die. The inde-
pendence
From the hour of Chatham's death England entered on a of America
conflict with enemies whose circle gradually widened till she stood to
single-handed against the world. At the close of 1778 Spain —
• • Progress
jomed the league of France and America against her ; and in the of the
next year the joint fleets of the two powers rode the masters of the ^^'^
Channel. They ev^en threatened a descent on the English coast.
But dead as Chatham was, his cry woke a new life in England.
"Shall we fall prostrate," he exclaimed with his last breath, " before
the House of Bourbon ? " and the divisions which had broken the
nation in its struggle with American liberty were hushed in the
presence of this danger to its own existence. The weakness of the
Ministry was compensated by the energy of England itself For
three years, from 1779 to 1782, General Eliott held against famine
and bombardment the rock fortress of Gibraltar. Although a
quarrel over the right of search banded Holland and the Courts of
the North in an armed neutrality against her, and added the Dutch
fleet to the number of her assailants, England held her own at sea.
Even in America the fortune of the war seemed to turn. After
Burgoyne's surrender the English generals had withdrawn from
Penns}-lvania, and bent all their efforts on the South where a strong
Royalist party still existed. The capture of Charlestown and the
successes of Lord Cornwallis in 1780 were rendered fruitless by the
obstinate resistance of General Greene : but the States were weak-
ened b}' bankruptcy, and unnerved by hopes of aid from France.
Meanwhile England was winning new triumphs in the East.
Since the day of Plassey, Lidia had been fast passing into the England
hands of the merchant company whose traders but a few years india
before held only three petty factories along its coast. The victor}^
which laid Bengal at the feet of Clivc had been followed in 1760
by a victory at Wandewash, in which Colonel Cootc's defeat of
Lally, the French Governor of Pondicherry, established British
supremacy over Southern India. The work of organization had
soon to follow on that of conquest ; for the tyranny and corruption
of the merchant-clerks v.-ho suddenly found themselves lifted into
rulers was fast ruining the i)ro\-ince of Bengal; and although ("live
had profited more than any oilier \)y the sjkjIIs of his victor\-, he
ijoS
HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE
CHAP.
Sec. II saw that the time had come when greed must give way to the
The i.NDE. responsibilities of power. In 176^ he returned to India, and the two
OF America ^.^ars of his rulc wcrc in fact the most glorious N'cars in his life. In
1 761
the teeth of opposition from every clerk and of mutiny throughout
the arm\', he put down the private trading of the Company's
servants and forbade their acceptance of gifts from the natives.
TO
1782
LORD CLIVE.
From an engraving by Dartolozzi, after the piciicre by Xatliaiiiel Dance.
Clive set an example of disinterestedness by handing over to public
uses a legacy which had been left him by the prince he had raised
to the throne of Bengal ; and returned poorer than he went to face
the storm his acts had roused among those who were interested in
Indian abuses at home. His unsparing denunciations of the mis-
government of Bengal at last stirred even Lord North to interfere ;
X MODERN ENGLAND 1709
and when the financial distress of the Company drove it for aid to sec. ii
Government, the ^rant of aid was coupled with measures of admin- the inde-
'■ I'ENDEXCE
istrative reform. The Regulating Act of 1773 established a of America
Governor-General and a Supreme Court of Judicature for all British to
possessions in India, prohibited judges and members of Council —
from trading, forbade any receipt of presents from natives, and
ordered that every act of the Directors should be signified to the
Government to be approved or disallowed. The new interest which
had been aroused in the subject of India was seen in an investiga-
tion of the whole question of its administration by a Committee of
the House of Commons. Clive's own early acts were examined
with unsparing severity. His bitter complaint in the Lords that,
Baron of Plassey as he was, he had been arraigned like a sheep-
stealer, failed to prevent the passing of resolutions which censured
the corruption and treachery of the early days of British rule in
India, Here, however, the justice of the House stopped. When
his accusers passed from the censure of Indian misgovernment to
the censure of Clive himself, the memory of his great deeds won
from the House of Commons a unanimous vote, " That Robert
Lord Clive did at the same time render great and meritorious
services to his country."
By the act of 1773 Warren Hastings was named Governor- Warren
General of Bengal, with powers of superintendence and control over
the other presidencies. Hastings was sprung of a noble famil}-
which had long fallen into decay, and poverty had driven him in
boyhood to accept a writership in the Company's service. Clive,'
whose quick eye discerned his merits, drew him after Plassey into
political life ; and the administrative ability he showed, during the
disturbed period which followed, raised him step by step to the post
of Governor of Bengal. No man could have been better fitted to
discharge the duties of the new office which the Government at
home had created without a thought of its real greatness.
Hastings was gifted with rare powers of organization and control.
His first measure was to establish the direct rule of tlie Compan\'
over Bengal by abolishing the government of its native princes,
which, though it had become nominal, In'ndcred all plans for
effective administratifjn. The Nabob sank into a pcnsionar)-, and
the Compan\-'s new province was rough!)- hut cfficientl)- organized.
Hastings
1 7 lo
HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE
CHAP,
Sec. II Out of thc clcrks and traders about him Hastings formed that body
The iNDE- of public scvvants which still remains the noblest product of our
PENDENCE ' ^
OF America j.^j|^_> j,^ India. The sv^tcm of law and finance which he devised,
1761 .
TO hast\' and inipericct as it necessarily was, was far superior to any
1782 ' ' / ' 1 /
^WARREN HASTINGS.
From a mezzotint by T. IVatson (1777), after Sir J. Reynolds.
that India had ever seen. Corruption he put down with as firm a
hand as Clive's, but he won the love of the new " civilians " as he
won thc love of the Hindoos. Although he raised the revenue of
Bengal and was able to send liome every year a surplus of half a
million to the Company, he did this without laying a fresh burden
MODERN ENGLAND 17 ii
on the natives or losing their good will. His government was Sec. 11
guided b\' an intimate knowledge of and sympathy with the people. The inde-
PENDENCE
At a time when their tongue was looked on simply as a medium of of America
trade and business, Hastings was skilled in the languages of India ; to
1782
he was versed in native customs, and familiar with native feeling. —
We can hardly wonder that his popularity with the Bengalees was
such as no later ruler has ever attained, or that after a century of
great events Indian mothers still hush their infants with the name
of Warren Hastings.
As yet, though English influence was great in the south, Bengal India
alone was directly in English hands. Warren Hastings recognized American
a formidable danger to the power of Britain in that of the ^^*'
Mahrattas, freebooters of Hindoo blood whose tribes had for a
century past carried their raids over India from the hills of the
western coast, and founded sovereignties in Guzerat, Malwa, and
Tanjore, and who were bound by a slight tie of subjection to the
Mahratta chief who reigned at Poonah. The policy of Hastings
was to prevent the Mahrattas from over-running the whole of
India, and taking the place which the Mogul Emperors had
occupied. He bound native princes, as in Oudh or Berar, by
treaties and subsidies, crushed without scruple the Rohillas to
strengthen his all}- the Nabob Vizier of Oudh, and watched with
incessant jealousy the growth of powers even as distant as the
Sikhs. The jealousy of France sought in the Mahrattas a counter-
poise to the power of Britain, and through their chieftain the
French envoys were able to set the whole confederacy in motion
against the English presidencies. The danger was met by Hastings
with characteristic swiftness of resolve. His difficulties were
great. For two years he had been rendered powerless through the
opposition of his Council ; and when freed from this obstacle the
Company pressed him incessantly for money, and the Crown more
than once strove to recall him. His own general, Sir Eyre Coote,
was miserly, capricious, and had to be humoured like a child.
Censures and complaints reached him with every mail. But his
calm self-command never failed. No trace of his embarrassment
showed itself in his work. The war with the Mahrattas was
pressed with a tenacity of purpose which the blunders of subor-
dinates and the inefficiency of the soldiers he was forced to use
HISTORY OF THE EXCiLISH PEOPLE chap, x
Sec. II never shook for a moment. Failure followed failure, and success
The inde- had hardK' been wruni^from fortune when <i new and overwhelming
PENDENCK
OF America danger tinx'atened from the south. A military adxenturer, 1 h'dcr
TO All, hat! built up a compact and vigorous empire out of the wreck
— of older principalities on the table-land of Mysore. T}-rant as he
•^ ""' ' was, no native rule was so just as Hyder's, no statesmanship so
vigorous. He was quickwitted enough to discern the real power of
Britain, and only the wretched blundering of the Council of IMadras
forced him at last to the conclusion that war with the English was
less dangerous than friendship with them. Old as he was, his
generalship retained all its energy ; and a disciplined army,
covered by a cloud of horse and backed by a train of artillery,
poured down in 1780 on the plain of the Carnatic. The small
British force which met him v.-as driven into Madras, and Madras
itself was in danger. The news reached Hastings when he \\ as at
last on the \-erge of triumph over the Mahrattas ; but his triumph
J -Si was instantly abandoned, a peace was patched up, and every
soldier hurried to Madras. The appearance of E\re Coote
checked the progress of Ryder, and after a campaign of some
months he was hurled back into the fastnesses of Mysore. India
was the one quarter of the world where Britain lost nothing during
the American war ; and in the annexation of Benares, the
extension of British rule along the Ganges, the reduction of Oudh
to virtual dependence, the appearance of English armies in Central
India, and the defeat of Hyder, the genius of Hastings laid the
foundation of an Indian Empire.
the War ^^^ while England triumphed in the East, the face of the
war in America was changed by a terrible disaster. Foiled in an
attempt on North Carolina by the refusal of his fellow general, Sir
Henr\' Clinton, to assist him, Lord Cornwallis fell back in 17S1 on
Virginia, and entrenched himself in the lines of York Town. A
sudden march of Washington brought him to the front of the
English troops at a moment when the French fleet held the sea,
and the army of Cornwallis was driv^en by famine to a surrender as
humiliating as that of Saratoga. The news fell like a thunderbolt
on the wretched Minister who had till now suppressed at his
master's order his own conviction of the uselessness of further
bloodshed. Opening his arms and pacing wildh- up and down
SUKKENDKU OK I.OKD CORNWAI.LIS AT VORKTOWN.
Butnuril, '' H istoiy of England," 1790.
•7'4
HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE
CHAP.
Sec. II
The Inde-
i'ksdence
OK America
1 761
TO
1782
Mar. 17S2
his room, Lord North exclaimed " It is all over," and resigned.
England in fact seemed on the brink of ruin. In the crisis of the
American struggle Ireland it.sclf turned on her. A force of forty
thousand volunteers had been raised in 1779 for the defence of the
island against a French invasion. Threats of an armed revolt
backed the eloquence of two Parliamentary leaders, Grattan and
Flood, in their demand for the repeal of Poynings' Act, which took
all power of initiative legislation from the Irish Parliament, and for
the recognition of the Irish House of Lords as an ultimate Court
of Appeal. The demands were in effect a claim for national
independence ; but there were no means of resisting them, for
England was without a soldier to oppose the volunteers. The fall
THE I'ARLIAME.NT-HOUSE, DUBLIN.
of Lord North recalled the Whigs under Lord Rockingham to
office ; and on Rockingham fell the double task of satisfying
Ireland and of putting an end, at any cost, to the war with the
United States. The task involved in both quarters a humiliating
surrender ; and it needed the bitter stress of necessity to induce
the Houses to follow his counsels. The English Parliament
abandoned by a formal statute the judicial and legislative
supremacy it had till then asserted over the Parliament of Ireland ;
and negotiations were begun with America and its allies. In the
difficulties of England the hopes of her enemies rose high. Spain
refused to suspend hostilities at any other price than the surrender
MODERN ENGLAND
1715
of Gibraltar. France proposed that England should give up all Sec. ii
her Indian conquests save Bengal. But the true basis of her the inde-
I'ENDENCE
world-power lay on the sea ; and at this moment the command of °^ America
the seas again became her own. Admiral Rodnc}-, the greatest of to
English seamen save Nelson and Blake, had in January, 1780,
ADMIRAI, RODNEY.
From an engraving by E. Scrivcn, after Reynolds.
encountered the .Spanish fleet off Cape St. Vincent, and onl\- four /„,,. ,6,
of its vessels escaped to Cadiz. Two years later the triumphs of '"^°
the French Admiral de Grasse called him to the West Indies, and
in April 17.S2, a manoeuvre which he was the first to introduce
broke his opi)onent's line, and diovc the l-'rench licet shattered
Vol. IV— Part 37 ^ S
CHAP. X
MODERN ENGLAND
1717
from the Atlantic. In September a last attack of the joint force Sec. 11
fathered against Gibraltar was repulsed by the heroism of Eliott. The Inde-
•=••=> '^ ■' PENDENCE
Nor would America wait any longrer for the satisfaction of her of America
... 1761
allies. In November her commissioners sigrned the preliminaries to
^ ^ 1782
of a peace, in which Britain reserved to herself on the American —
Tv€ci tics
continent only Canada and the island of Newfoundland, and of peace
acknowledged without reserve the independence of the United
States. The treaty of peace with the United States was a prelude
to treaties of peace with the Bourbon powers. France indeed won
nothing in the treaties with which the war ended ; Spain gained
only Florida and Minorca. England, on the other hand, had won
ground in India ; she had retained Canada ; her West Indian
islands were intact ; she had asserted her command of the seas.
But at the close of the war there was less thought of what she had
retained than of what she had lost. The American Colonies were
irrecoverably gone. It is no wonder that in the first shock of such
a loss England looked on herself as on the verge of ruin, or
that the Bourbon Courts believed her position as a world-power to
be practically at an end. How utterly groundless such a con-
ception was the coming years were to show.
1111. •' ui.icovi.i;'. ^'.'r ,!. . .,111; ;.
Lindsay, ''History of Merchant Shipping;" from a d rawing ly E. \V. Cook, R.A.
lyiS
HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE
CHAP.
Sec. Ill
The
Second
Pitt
1783
TO
1793
THE IMPEACHMENT.
Satire on Burke, Fox. and Shericia/i, by J. Gillray, 1791.
England
and the
World
Section III. — The Second Pitt, 1783 — 1793
^Authorities. — Mr. Massey's account of this period may be supplemented by
Lord Stanhope's " Life of Pitt," Lord Russell's " Memoirs of Fox,'' and the
Correspondence of Lord Malmesbury, Lord Auckland, and Mr. Rose. For
the Slave Trade, see the ]\Iemoirs of Wilberforce by his sons. Burke may be
studied in his Life by Macknight, in Mr. Morley's valuable essay on him, and
above all in his own works. The state of foreign affairs in 1789 is best seen in
Von Sybel's " History of the French Revolution."]
That in the creation of the United States the world had
reached one of the turning points in its histor}-
scems at the time to have entered into the
thought of not a single European statesman.
What startled men most at the moment was
the discovery that England herself was far from
being ruined by the greatness of her defeat.
She rose from it indeed stronger and more
vigorous than ever. Never had she shown a mightier energy than
in the struggle against France which followed only
ten }-ears after her loss of America, nor did she
ever stand higher among the nations than on the
da)' of Waterloo. Her real greatness, however, lay
not in th^ old world but in the new. She was
CANADA.
from that hour a mother of nations. In America
she had begotten a great people, and her emigrant ships were
r\ r\ f\ r\ r\ /^ r\ r\
N EW FOU N D LAN D .
MODERN ENGLAND
1719
still to carry on the movement of the Teutonic race from which
she herself had sprung. Her
work was to be coloniza-
tion. Her settlers were to
dispute Africa with the
Kaffir and the Hottentot ;
SEAL OF CAPE OF GOOD HOPE, EASTERN
DIVISION.^
Collection of Mr. Allan lljon.
SEAL OF NATAL.
Collection of Mr. Allan Wyon.
Sec. Ill
The
Second
Pitt
1783
TO
1793
NEW SOUTH
WALES.
they were to build up in the waters of the Pacific colonies as great
as those which she had lost in America. And to the nations
that she founded she was to give not only her
blood and her speech, but the freedom which
she had won. It is the thought of this which
flings its grandeur round the pettiest details of
our story in the past. The history of France has
little result beyond France itself. German or
Italian history has no direct issue outside the
bounds of Germany or Italy. But England is
only a small part of the outcome of English history. Its greater
issues lie not within the narrow limits of the mother island, but
in the destinies of nations yet to be. The struggles of her
patriots, the wisdom of her statesmen, the
steady love of liberty and law in her people at
large, were shaping in the past of our little
island the future of mankind.
Meanwhile the rapid dcvelopemicnt of indus-
trial energy and industrial wealth in l''ngland
itself was telling on the conditions of ICnglish
statesmanship. 'I'hough the Tories antl "King's friends " hat!
now grown to a crjinijact body fjf a Innidrcd and fill)- members
TASMANIA.
The
Rock-
ingham
Ministry
1720
HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE
CHAP.
Sec. Ill the Whigs, who held office under Lord Rockingham, were superior
to their rivals in numbers and political character, now that the
return of the l^cclfortl section to the general body of the party
during its steady opposition to the American war had restored
much of its old cohesion. But this reunion only strengthened their
aristocratic and exclusive tendencies, and widened the breach which
was steadil}- opening on questions such as Parliamentary Reform,
THt
Second
Pitt
1783
TO
1793
WILLIAM I'l LL.
Ficiurc hy T. Gainsborough.
between the bulk of the Whig party and the small fragment which
remained true to the more popular s}-mpathies of Chatham. Lord
Shelburne stood at the head of the Chatham part}', and it was re-
inforced at this moment by the entr}' into Parliament of the second
son of Chatham himself. William Pitt had hardly reached his
twenty-second year ; but he left college with the learning of a ripe
scholar, and his read)- and sonorous eloquence had been matured
MODERN ENGLAND
1721
by his father's teaching. '' He will be one of the first men in
Parliament," said a member to the Whig leader, Charles Fox, after
Pitt's first speech in the House of Commons. " He is so already,"
replied Fox. The haughty self-esteem of the new statesman
breathed in cvcr\- movement of his tall, spare figure, in the hard
I'lIAKl.E.S J.A.MES Fox.
I'icliiic by Karl Anton Ilickcl, in the National Po>t>\iit Galkiy.
lines of a countenance which none but his closer friends saw lighted
by a smile, in his cold and repulsive address, his invariable gravit)-
of demeanour, and his habitual air of command. How great the
qualities were which la)- beneath, this haught\' exterior no one
knew ; nor had an}- one guessed how soon this " bo\-," as his rivals
Sec. Ill
The
Second
Pitt
1783
TO
1793
1722
HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE
CHAP.
Sec. Ill
The
Skcon 1 1
Put
1783
TO
1793
Economi-
cal
Reform
1782
The
Coalition
mockingly styled him, was to crush every opponent and to hold
I'ji^Mand at his will. He refused any minor post in the Rocking-
h;iin Administration, claiming, if he took office at all, to be at once
admitted to the Cabinet. Hut Pitt had no desire to take office
under Rockingham. To him as to Chatham the main lesson of the
war was the need of putting an end to those abuses in the com-
position of Parliament by which George the Third had been
enabled to plunge the country into it. A thorough reform of the
Mouse of Commons was the only effectual means of doing this, and
Pitt brought forward a bill founded on his father's plans for that
purpose. But the great bulk of the Whigs could not resolve on
the sacrifice of property and influence which such a reform would
involve. Pitt's bill was thrown out ; and in its stead the Ministry
endea\oured to weaken the means of corrupt influence which the
King had unscrupulously used by disqualifying persons holding
government contracts from sitting in Parliament, by depriving re-
venue officers of the elective franchise (a measure which diminished
the influence of the Crown in seventy boroughs), and above all by
a bill for the reduction of the civil establishment, of the pension list,
and of the secret service fund, which was brought in by Burke.
These measures were to a great extent effectual in diminishing the
influence of the Crown over Parliament, and they are memorable as
marking the date when the direct bribery of members absolutely
ceased. But they were absolutely inoperative in rendering, the
House of Commons really representative of or responsible to the
people of England. The jealousy which the mass of the Whigs
entertained of the Chatham section and its plans was more plainly
shown on the death of Lord Rockingham in July. Shelburne was
no sooner called to the head of the Ministry than Fox, who acted
on personal grounds, and the bulk of Rockingham's followers
resigned. Pitt on the other hand accepted office as Chancellor of
the Exchequer.
The Shelburne ^Ministry only lasted long enough to conclude the
final peace with the United States ; for in the opening of 1783 it was
overthrown by the most unscrupulous coalition known in our history,
that of the ^^ hig followers of Fox with the Tories who still clung
to Lord North. Never had the need of representative reform been
more clearly shown than b\- a coalition which proved how powerless
MODERN ENGLAND
1723
was the force of public opinion to check even the most shameless
faction in Parliament, how completely the lessening of the royal
influence by the measures of Burke and Rockingham had tended
to the profit, not of the people, but of the borough-mongers who
usurped its representation. Pitt's renewed proposal of Parliamentary
FRONT OK THE OLD EAST INDIA HOUSE.
Danvers, ''' India OOicc Records."
Reform was rejected by a majority of two to one. Secure in their
Parliamentary majority, and heedless of the power of public
opinion without the walls of the House of Commons, the new
Ministers entered boldly on a greater task than had as yet taxed
the constructive genius of English statesincn. To Icaxc such a
dominion as Warren Hastings had Iniilt ii]) in India to the coiUrol
Sec. ni
The
Second
Pitt
1783
TO
1793
hid in
Bin
CHAP. X MODERN ENGLAND 1725
of a mere company of traders was clearly impossible ; and Fox Sec. hi
proposed to transfer the political government from the Directors of ^he
the Company to a board of seven Commissioners. The appoint- ^'"'
ment of the seven was vested in the first instance in Parliament, and to
1793
afterwards in the Crown ; their office w^as to be held for five years, —
but they were removeable on address from either House of Parlia-
ment. The proposal was at once met with a storm of opposition.
The scheme indeed was an injudicious one ; for the new Commis-
sioners would have been destitute of that practical knowledge of
India which belonged to the Company, while the want of any
immediate link between them and the actual Ministry of the Crown
would have prevented Parliament from exercising an effective
control over their acts. But the real faults of this India Bill were
hardly noticed in the popular outcry against it. The merchant-
class was galled by the blow levelled at the greatest merchant-bod)'
in the realm : corporations trembled at the cancelling of a charter ;
the King viewed the measure as a mere means of transferring the
patronage of India to the Whigs. With the nation at large the
faults of the bill lay in the character of the Ministry which proposed
it. To give the rule and patronage of India over to the existing
House of Commons was to give a new and immense power to a
body which misused in the grossest way the power it possessed. It
was the sense of this popular feeling which encouraged the King to Fall
exert his personal influence to defeat the measure in the Lords, Coalition
and on its defeat to order his Ministers to deliver up the seals. In
December 1783 Pitt accepted the post of First Lord of the
Treasury ; but his position would at once have been untenable had
the country gone with its nominal representatives. He was de-
feated again and again by large majorities in the Commons ; but
the majorities dwindled as a shower of addresses from cvcr\-
quarter, from the Tory University of Oxford as from the Whig
Corporation of London, proved that public opinion went with the
Minister and not with the House. It was the general .sense of this
which justified Pitt in the firmness with which, in the teeth of
addres.ses for his removal from office, he delayed the dissolution of
Parliament for five months, and gained time for that ripening of
national sentiment on which he counted for success. When the
election of 1784 came the struggle was at (jnce at an cnil. The
1726 HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE chap.
Sec. Ill public fccling had become strong enough to break through the
The corrupt influences which commonly governed its representation.
.Skco.nd
William
Pitt
''"T Ever\' great constitucnc)- returned supporters to Pitt ; of the
ro"^ majority which had defeated him in the Commons a hundred and
'793
— sixty members were unseated ; and only a fragment of the Whig
party was saved by its command of nomination boroughs.
When Parliament came together after the overthrow of the
Coalition, the Minister of twenty-five was master of England as
no Minister had been before. Even the King yielded to his sway,
partly through gratitude for the triumph he had won for him over
the Whigs, partly from a sense of the madness which was soon to
strike him down, but still more from a gradual discovery that the
triumph which he had won over his political rivals had been won,
not to the profit of the Crown, but of the nation at large. The
Whigs, it was true, were broken, unpopular, and without a policy,
while the Tories clung to the Minister who had " saved the King."
But it was the support of a new political power that really gave
his .strength to the young Minister. The sudden rise of English
industry was pushing the manufacturer to the front ; and all that
the trading classes loved in Chatham, his nobleness of temper, his
consciousness of power, his patriotism, his sj^mpathy with a wider
world than the world within the Parliament-house, the\' saw in his
son. He had little indeed of the poetic and imaginative side of
Chatham's genius, of his quick perception of what was just and
what was possible, his far-reaching conceptions of national policy,
his outlook into the future of the world. Pitt's flowing and
sonorous commonplaces rang hollow beside the broken phrases
which still make his father's eloquence a living thing to English-
men. On the other hand he possessed some qualities in which
Chatham was utterly wanting. His temper, though naturally
ardent and sensitive, had been schooled in a proud self-command.
His simplicity and good taste freed him from his father's ostenta-
tion and extravagance. Diffuse and commonplace as his .speeches
seem, they were adapted as much by their very qualities of
diffuseness and commonplace as by their lucidity and good sense
to the intelligence of the middle classes whom Pitt felt to be his
real audience. In his love of peace, his immense industry, his
despatch of business, his skill in debate, his knowledge of finance
THE HOUSE "I
Painted in London by Karl Anton Hickel. Presented June, \%lw
of Hungary to her Excellency La
OviONS IN 1793.
unfierinl Majesty the Evipernr Francis Joseph of Austria and King
If for the National Portrait Gallery.
MODERN ENGLAND
1727
he recalled Sir Robert Walpole ; but he had virtues which
Walpole never possessed, and he was free from W'alpole's worst
defects. He was careless of personal gain. He was too proud
to rule by corruption. His lofty self-esteem left no room for any
jealousy of subordinates. He was generous in his appreciation of
}-outhful merits ; and the " boys " he gathered round him, such
as Canning and Lord Wcllesley, rewarded his generosity by a
devotion which death left untouched. With Walpole's cynical
inaction Pitt had no sympathy whatever. His policy from the first
was one of active reform, and he faced every one of the problems,
financial, constitutional, religious, from which Walpole had shrunk.
Above all he had none of Walpole's scorn of his fellow-men. The
noblest feature in his mind was its wide humanit}-. His love for
England was as deep and personal as his father's love, but of the
s\-mpath}- with English passion and English prejudice which had
been at once his father's weakness and strength he had not a
trace. When Fox taunted him with forgetting Chatham's jealousy
of France and his faith that she was the natural foe of England,
Pitt answered nobly that '•' to suppose any nation can be
unalterably the enemy of another is weak and childish." The
temper of the time and the larger s}'mpathy of man with man, which
especially marks the eighteenth century as a turning-point in the
history of the human race, was everywhere bringing to the front a
new order of statesmen, such as Turgot and Joseph the Second,
whose characteristics were a love of mankind, and a belief that as
the happiness of the individual can onl\' be secured by the
general happiness of the community to which he belongs, so the
welfare of individual nations can only be secured by the general
welfare of the world. Of these Pitt was one. But he rose high
above the rest in the consummate knowledge, and the practical
force which he brought to the realisation of his aims.
Pitt's strength lay in finance ; and he came forward at a time
when the growth of English wealth made a knowledge of finance
cs.sential to a great minister. The progress of the nation was
wonderful. Population more than doubled during the eighteenth
century, and the advance of wealth was even greater than that of
population. The war had added a hundred millions to tlu- national
debt, but the burden was hard!)- fell. The loss of America only
Sec. Ill
The
Second
Pitt
X783
TO
1793
English
Industry
1728
HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE
CHAP.
Sec. m
The
Second
Pitt
'7«3
TO
Matiufiic-
tares
increased the commerce with that country ; and industry had
begun that g^reat career which was to make Britain the workshop
of the world. rhoLiy;h England already stood in the first rank of
commercial states at the accession of George the Third, her in-
dustrial life at home was mainly agricultural. The wool-trade
had gradually established itself in Norfolk, the West Riding of
Yorkshire, and the counties of the south-west ; while the manufac-
ture of cotton was still almost limited to Manchester and Bolton,
and remained so unimportant that in the middle of the eighteenth
century the export of cotton goods hardly reached the value of fifty
-"•"'^^'^c-^
.L.ft)^^^
w\ ■
.>/ij|B
L.| . -■
\
' v' ■ ' '^nsK^^H
Mil^^^B^^^^HflM^^^^^*^j
n^^
y
|#
1
^ -^^^
^ifl^^^HHFn
M»l^
1
Pj
|,^.
t^
l;S=it-
''^ j!fm^
WAGON.
Pync, ''^Costumes of Great Britain" 1808.
thousand a year. There was the same slow and steady progress
in the linen trade of Belfast and Dundee, and the silks of Spital-
fields. The processes of manufacture were too rude to allow any
large increase of production. It was only where a stream gave
force to turn a mill-wheel that the wool-worker could establish his
factory ; and cotton was as yet spun by hand in the cottages, the
"spinsters" of the family sitting with their distaffs round the
weaver's handloom. But had the processes of manufacture been
more efficient, they would have been rendered useless by the want
of a cheap and easy means of transport. The older main roads,
MODERN ENGLAND
1729
which had lasted fairly through the middle ages, had broken down
in later times before the growth of traffic and the increase of
wagons and carriages. The new lines of trade lay often along
mere country lanes which had ncv^er been more than horse- tracks.
Much of the woollen trade therefore had to be carried on by means
of long trains of pack-horses ; and in the case of yet heavier goods,
such as coal, distribution was almost impracticable, save along the
greater rivers or in districts accessible from the sea. A new aera
began when the engineering genius of Brindley joined Manchester
Sec. Ill
The
Second
Pitt
1783
TO
1793
Roads
and
cafia/s
AQUEDUCT ii\-KK THK IRWKl.I, AT BARTON, LANXASHIKE.
From an engraving by W. Orine, 1793.
with its port of Liverpool in 1767 by a canal which crossed the
Irwcll on a lofty aqueduct ; the success of the experiment .soon
led to the universal introduction of water-carriage, and Great
Britain was traversed in every direction by three thousand miles
of navieable canals. At the same time a new iinnf)rtancc was Coal and
given to the coal which lay beneath the soil of I'lngland. The
stores of iron which had lain side by side with it in the northern
counties had lain there unworked through the scarcity of wood,
which was looked upon as the <^nly fuul b)' whicli it could be
< ^
CHAP. X
MODERN ENGLAND
1731
smelted. In the middle of the eighteenth century a process for
smelting iron with coal turned out to be effective ; and the whole
aspect of the iron-trade was at once revolutionized. Iron was to
become the working material of the modern world ; and it is its
production of iron which more than all else has placed England at
the head of industrial Europe. The value of coal as a means of
Sec. Ill
The
Second
Pitt
1783
TO
1793
JAMp;?. WATT.
From an engraving; hy C. Titnu-r after a portrait by Sir T. Lawrence.
producing mechanical force was revealed in the discover}' by which
Watt in 1765 transformed the Steam-Engine from a mere toy into
the most wonderful instrument which human industry has ever had
at its command. The inxcntion came at a moment when the ex-
isting .supply of manual labour could no longer cope with the
demands of the manufacturcns. Three successive inventions in
twelve years, that of the spinning-jenn\' in 1764 by the weaver
Vol. IV— Part 37 5 I'
The
Sfcnni-
Kiiirinc
173-
llIsrORV OF I'HE ENGLISH PEOPLE
CHAP
Sec. Ill Hargreaves, of the spinning-machine in 176S by the barber
Arkwright, of the "mule" b)- the weaver Crompton in 1776 were
followed b\- the iliscover\- of the power-loom. lUit these would have
been comparativel)- useless had it not been for the revelation of a
new and inexhaustible labour-force in the steam-engine. It was the
combination of such a force with such means of appl\ing it that
The
Second
Pitt
1783
TO
1793
SAMUEL CRO.MPTON.
From ail cng7-avino hy C. Turner after a portrait hy Allins^hain.
Adam
Smith
enabled Britain during the terrible years of her struggle with
France and Napoleon to all but monopolize the woollen and cotton
trades, and raised her into the greatest manufacturing country that
the world had seen.
To deal wisely with such a growth required a knowledge of the
laws of wealth which would have been impossible at an earlier time.
But it had become possible in the days of Pitt. If books are to be
MODERN ENGLAND
'733
measured by the effect which they have produced on the fortunes of Sec. hi
mankind, the " Wealth of Nations " must rank among the greatest
of books. Its author was Adam Smith, an Oxford scholar and a
professor at Glasgow. Labour, he contended, was the one source
of wealth, and it was by freedom of labour, by suffering the worker
to pursue his own interest in his own way, that the public wealth
The
Second
Pitt
1783
TO
1793
KICIIARU ARKWRIGHT.
Picture hy Wright of Derby, in the possession 0/ Mr. i^. A. Hurt.
would best be promoted. An)' attcmi)t to force labour into artificial
channels, to shape by laws the course of commerce, to promote
special branches of industry in particular countries, or to fix the
character of the intercourse between one country and anotlicr, is
not only a wrong to the wcH'kcr or the merchant, l)iit actual l\- hurt-
ful to the wealth of a stale. The b(Jok was [jublished in 1776, at
5 1' 2
1734
Sec. Ill
The
Second
Pitt
1783
TO
1793
HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE
CHAP.
the opening of the American war, and studied by Pitt during his
career as an undergraduate at Cambridge. From that time he
owned Adam Smith for liis master. He had hardly become
Minister before he took the principles of the " Wealth of Nations ''
as the groundwork of his policy. The ten earlier years of his rule
marked a new point of departure in English statesmanship. Pitt
was the first English ^Minister who really grasped the part which
industr\- was to play in promoting the welfare of the world. lie
ADAM SMITH.
Medallion by Tassie.
was not only a peace ]\Iinister and a financier, as Walpole had
been, but a statesman who saw that the best security for peace lay
in the freedom and widening of commercial intercourse between
nations ; that public economy not only lessened the general
burdens but left additional capital in the hands of industry ; and
that finance might be turned from a mere means of raising revenue
into a powerful engine of political and social improvement.
That little was done by Pitt himself to carry these princij^les
:\[ODERX ENGLAND
1735
into effect was partly owing to the mass of ignorance and pre-
judice with which he had to contend, and still more to the sudden
break of his plans through the French Revolution. His power
rested above all on the trading classes, and these were still per-
suaded that wealth meant gold and silver,
and that commerce was best furthered
by jealous monopolies. It was only by
patience and dexterity that the mob of
merchants and country squires who
backed him in the House of Commons
could be brought to acquiesce in the
changes he proposed. How small his
power was when it struggled with the
prejudices around him was seen in the
failure of the first great measure he brought
forward. The question of parliamentary reform which had been
mooted during the American war had been steadily coming to the
front. Chatham had advocated an increase of county members, who
were then the most independent part of the Lower House. The
Duke of Richmond talked of universal suffrage, equal electoral
TOKEN OF JOHN WILKIN-
SON, IRONMASTER, 1 787.
JF. H. Smith, '■'■ Birniinghaiit."
Sec. Ill
The
Second
Pitt
1783
TO
1793
Pitt and
Reform
COLLIERY.
Pyne, " Microcostit," 1803 — 1806.
districts, and annual Parliaments. Wilkes anticipated the Reform
Bill of a later time by proposing to disfranchise the rotten boroughs,
and to give members in their stead to the counties and to the more
populous and wealthy towns. William I'itl had made the (jucstion
173^
The
Second
Pitt
17S3
TO
1793
HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE
CHAP.
Sec. Ill his own b\' brini^ing forward a motion for reform on his first entry
into the House, and one of his first measures as Minister was to
bring in a bill in 17S5 which, while providing for the gradual
extinction of all decayed boroughs, disfranchised thirty-six at
once, and transferred their members to counties. He brought the
King to abstain from opposition, and strove to buy off the borough-
mongers, as the holders of rotten boroughs were called, by oftcr-
ing to compensate them for the seats they lost at their market
value. But the bulk of his own party joined the bulk of the Whigs
IRON-FOUNDRY.
Pync, " lilicrocos)!!," 1803 — 1806.
in a steady resistance to the bill. The more glaring abuses, indeed,
within Parliament itself, the abuses which stirred Chatham and
Wilkes to action, had in great part disappeared. The bribery of
members had ceased. Burke's Bill of Economical Reform had
just dealt a fatal blow at the influence which the King exercised
by suppressing a host of useless offices, household appointments,
judicial and diplomatic charges, which were maintained for the
purposes of corruption. Above all, the recent triumph of public
opinion to which Pitt owed his power had done much to diminish
the sense of any real danger from the opposition which Parliament
MODERN ENGLAND
1737
had shown till now to the voice of the nation. " Terribly dis-
appointed and beat " as Wilberforce tells us Pitt was by the
rejection of his measure, the temper of the House and of the
people was too plain to be mistaken, and though his opinion
remained unaltered, he nev'er brought it forward again.
The failure of his constitutional reform was more than com-
pensated by triumphs of his finance. When he entered office
public credit was at its lowest ebb. The debt had been doubled
by the American war, yet large sums still remained unfunded,
while the revenue was reduced by a vast system of smuggling
which turned cverv coast-town into a nest of robbers. The
Sec. Ill
The
Second
Pitt
1783
TO
1793
Pitt's
Finance
CASTING CANNON BALLS.
Pync, " IiIic?vcosiii," 1S03 — i8c
deficienc}- was met for the moment by new taxes, but the time
which was thus gained served to change the whole face of public
affairs. The first of Pitt's financial measures — his plan for gradu-
ally paying off the debt by a sinking fund — was undoubtcdl)^ an
error ; but it had a happy effect in restoring public confidence.
He met the smuggler by a reduction of Custom-duties which made
his trade unprofitable. He rc\i\cd W'alpolc's plan of an ]''xci.se.
Meanwhile the public expenses v.crc reduced, and commission
after commission was appointed ttj introduce economy intcj ever)-
department of the public service. 'I"hc rai)id dcxclopement of the
national industr}- which we have alrcad)- nested no (Inubt aided the
1738
HISTORY OF THi: ENGLISH PEOPLE
CHAP.
Sec. Ill
The
Second
Pitt
17S3
TO
1793
success of these measures. Credit was restored. The smuggling
trade was greatly reduced. In two years there was a surplus of a
million, antl though dut}- after duty was removed the revenue rose
steadily with every remission of taxation. Meanwhile Pitt was
showing the political value of the new finance in a wider field.
Ireland, then as now, was England's difficulty. The tyrannous
misgovernmcnt under which she had groaned ever since the battle
of the Boyne was producing its natural fruit ; the miserable land
was torn with political faction, religious feuds and peasant con-
THE LINEN IFAI.I., DUBLIN.
From an engraving by 0^- Hincks, 1783.
spiracies ; and so threatening had the attitude of the Protestant
part)' which ruled it become during the American war that they
had forced the English Parliament to relinquish its control over
their Parliament in Dublin. Pitt saw that much at least of the
misery and disloyalty of Ireland sprang from its poverty. The
population had grown rapidly while culture remained stationary
and commerce perished. And of this poverty much was the
direct result of unjust law. Ireland was a grazing country, but to
protect the interest of English graziers the import of its cattle into
England was forbidden. To protect the interests of English
MODERN ENGLAND
1739
clothiers and weavers, its manufactures were loaded with duties.
To redress this wrong was the first financial effort of Pitt, and the
bill which he introduced in 1785 did away with every obstacle to
freedom of trade between England and Ireland. It was a measure
which, as he held, would "draw what remained of the shattered
empire together," and repair in part the loss of America by
creating a loyal and prosperous Ireland ; and struggling almost
Sec. Ill
The
Second
Pitt
17S3
TO
1793
BAS-RELTEF COMMEMORATING TREATY BETWEEN ENGLAND AND FRANCE, 1787.
li^edg^vood ; modelled by Flax titan.
alone in face of a fierce opposition from the Whigs and the
Manchester merchants, he dragged it through the English Parlia-
ment, only to sec amendments forced into it which ensured its
rejection by the Irish Parliament. But the defeat onl}' s[)urrcd
him to a greater effort elsewhere. PVance had been looked upon
as England's natural enemy ; but in 1787 he concluded a Treaty
of Commerce with P'rancc which enabled the subjects of both
countries to reside and travel in cither without license or passport.
I740 HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE chap.
Sec. Ill did away with all prohibition of trade on either side, and reduced
thk everx' import dut\-.
Secont ' '
i''TT India owes to Pitt's triumph a form of government which
to"* remained unchanged to our own da)'. The India Bill which he
--■^ carried in 1784 preserved in appearance the political and com-
The
Trial of mcrcial powers of the Directors, while establishing a Board of
Hastings (;;ontrol, formed from members of the I'rivy Council, for the
approval or annulling of their acts. Practically, however, the
powers of the Board of Directors were absorbed by a secret com-
mittee of three elected members of that body, to whom all the
more important administrative functions had been reserved by the
bill, while those of the Board of Control were virtually exercised
by its President. As the President was in effect a new Secretary
of State for the Indian Department, and became an important
member of each Ministry, responsible like his fcllow-mcmbcrs for
his action to Parliament, the administration of India was thus
made a part of the general system of the English Government ;
while the secret committee supplied the experience of Indian
affairs in which the Minister might be deficient. Meanwhile the
new temper that was growing up in the English people told on the
attitude of England towards its great dependency. Discussions
over ri\al plans of Indian administration diffused a sense of
national responsibility for its good government, and there was a
general resolve that the security against injustice and misrule
which was enjoyed by the poorest Englishman should be enjoyed
b\- the poorest Hindoo. This resolve expressed itself in the trial
of Warren Hastings. Hastings returned from India at the close of
the war with the hope of rewards as great as those of Clive. He
had saved all that Clive had won. He had laid the foundation of
a vast empire in the East. He had shown rare powers of
administration, and the foresight, courage, and temperance which
mark the born ruler of men. But the wisdom and glory of his rule
could not hide its terrible ruthlessness. He was charged with
having sold for a vast sum the services of British troops to crush
the free tribes of the Rohillas, with having wrung half a million by
extortion from the Rajah of Benares, with having extorted by
torture and starvation more than a million from the Princesses of
Oudh. He was accused of having kept his hold upon power by
MODERN ENGLAND
1741
measures as unscrupulous, and with having murdered a native who
opposed him by an abuse of the forms of English law. On almost
all these charges the cooler judgement of later enquirers has
acquitted Warren Hastings of guilt. Personally there can be little
doubt that he had done much to secure to the new subjects of
Britain a just and peaceable government. What was hardest and
most pitiless in his rule had been simpl)- a carrying out of the
system of administration
which was native to India
and which he found exist-
ing there. But such a
system was alien from
the newhumanity of Eng-
lishmen ; and few dared
to vindicate Hastings
when Burke in words of
passionate earnestness
moved for his impeach-
ment. The great trial
lingered on for years, and
in the long run Hastings
secured an acquittal. But
the end at which the im-
peachment aimed had
really been won. The
attention, the sympathy
of Englishmen had been
drawn across distant seas
to a race utterly strange
to them ; and the peas-
ant of Cornwall or Cumberland had learned how to thrill at
the suffering of a peasant of Bengal.
Even while the trial was going on a yet wider extension of
English sympathy made it.self felt. In the year which followed
the adoption of free trade with France the new philanthropy alhVcl
itself with the religious movement created by the Wcslc\'s in an
attack on the Slave Trade. One of the profits which I'jigland
bought b\' the triumphs of Marlborough was a right to ,1 niono])oly
FOURTKEN STARS TAVKRX, BKISTuL.
Old drawing in British Muscuiii.
Sec. Ill
The
Seco.nd
Pitt
1783
TO
1793
The
Slave
Trade
1742
HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE
Sec. Ill
The
Second
Pitt
1783
TO
1793
England
and
Europe
of the slave trade between Africa and the Spanish dominions ; and
it was England that had planted slavery in her American colonies
and her West Indian islands. But the horrors and iniquit)- of the
trade, the ruin and degradation of Africa which it brought about,
the oppression of the negro himself, were now felt widely and
deeply. " After a con-
versation in the open
air at the root of an
old tree, just above the
steep descent into the
Vale of Keston," with
the younger Pitt, his
friend, William Wilber-
forcc, whose position as
a representative of the
evangelical party gave
weight to his advocacy
of such a cause, resolved
in 1788 to bring in a bill
for the abolition of the
slave trade. But the bill
fell before the opposi-
tion of the Liverpool
slave merchants and the
general indifference of
the House of Commons.
The spirit of humanity
which breathed through
Pitt's policy had indeed
to wrestle with diffi-
culties at home and abroad ; and his efforts to sap the enmity
of nation against nation by a freer intercourse encountered a foe
even more fatal than English prejudice, in the very movement
of which his measures formed a part. Across the Channel this
movement was growing into a revolution which was to change the
face of the world.
So far as England was concerned the Puritan resistance of the
seventeenth century had in the end succeeded in cliecking the
'ii^j
WILLIAM AVILBERFORCE.
Monument in ll-'estiiiiustcr Abbey.
MODERN ENGLAND
174:
THE FRurr-HAi;i.< 1
After H. Walton.
general tendency of the
time to religious and poli-
tical despotism. Since the
Revolution of 1688 free-
dom of conscience and
the people's right to
govern itself through its
representatives in Parlia-
ment had been practicall}-
established. Social equal-
ity had begun long before.
Every man from the high-
est to the lowest was sub-
ject to, and protected by,
the same law. The Eng-
lish aristocrac}', though
exercising a powerful influence on government, were possessed of
few social privileges, and prevented from forming a separate class
in the nation by the legal
and social tradition which
counted all save the eld-
est son of a noble house
as commoners. No im-
passable line parted the
gentry from the commer-
cial classes, and these
again possessed no privi-
leges which could part
them from the lower
classes of the community.
Public opinion, the general
sense of educated English-
men, had established itself
after a short struggle as
the dominant element in
English government. lUit
in all the (;thcr great slates
of Eurf>pe the wars of religion had left only the name of freedom.
Government tended to a pure despotism. Privilege was sujiremc
"Old Chairs to menJ."
XVIicatley, ^^ Itinctitnt Trades 0/ London, I794-5. "
Sec. Ill
The
Second
Pitt
1783
TO
1793
1744
HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE
CHAP.
Sec. in
The
Seconh
Pitt
1783
TO
1793
Miawiierries, sc.irlet strawberries
Wheatley' s "•Trades."
in rcliy;i()n, in politics, in
society. Socict}' itself
rested on a rigid division
of classes from one
another, which refused to
tlie i)eople at lari^^e an}'
equal rights of justice or
of industry. We have al-
ready seen how alien such
a conception of national
life was from the ideas
which the wide diffusion
of intelligence during the
eighteenth century was
spreading throughout
Europe ; and in almost
every country some enlightened rulers endeavoured by adminis-
trative reforms in some sort to satisfy the sense of wrong which
was felt around them. The attempts of sovereigns like Frederick
the Great in Prussia, and
Joseph the Second in
Austria and the Nether-
lands, were rivalled by
the efforts of statesmen
such as Turgot in France.
It was in France indeed
that the contrast between
the actual state of society
and the new ideas of
public right was felt most
keenly. Nowhere had the
victory of the Crown been
more complete. The aris-
tocracy had been robbed
of all share in public
affairs ; it enjoyed social
privileges and exemption
from any contribution to the public burdens, without that sense
of public duty which a governing class to some degree always
MODERN ENGLAND
745
'Sweet China ciranges.''
IVheatley s " Trades."
possesses. Guilds and
monopolies fettered the
industry of the trader and
the merchant, and cut
them off from the working
classes, as the value at-
tached to noble blood cut
off both from the aris-
tocrac}'.
If its political position
indeed were compared
with that of most of the
countries round it, France
stood high. Its govern-
ment was less oppressive,
its general wealth was
larger and more evenly
diffused, there was a better administration of justice, and greater
security for public order. Poor as its peasantry seemed to English
eyes, they were far above
the peasants of Germany
or Spain. Its middle
class was the quickest
and most intelligent in
Europe. Under Lewis
the Fifteenth opinion was
practically free ; and a
literary class had sprung
up which devoted itself
with wonderful brilliancy
and activity to populariz-
ing the ideas of social
and political justice which
it learned from English
writers, and in the case
of Montesquieu and Vol-
taire from personal con-
tact with English life. The moral conceptions of the time, its
Sec. Ill
The
Second
Pitt
1783
TO
1793
State of
France
Knives, scissors anJ razors to grind."
Wheatlcy s " J'nit/cs."
1746
HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE
CHAP.
Sec. Ill
The
Secono
Pitt
1783
TO
1793
love of mankind, its sense
of human brotherhood,
its hatred of oppression,
its pity for the guilty
and the poor, its longing
after a higher and nobler
standard of life and ac-
tion, were expressed b}'
a crowd of writers, and
above all b\- Rousseau,
with a fire and eloquence
which carried them to
the heart of the people.
But this new force of
intelligence only jostled
rough!}' with the social
forms with which it found
itself in contact. The
philosopher denounced the tyranny
" il I -1 ice gingerbread, smoaking hot."
M'luatleys " Tnuh-s.'
Public opinion forced France to ally
new love song, only hi. apiece."
Wheatleys " Trades."
of the priesthood. The
peasant grumbled at the
lord's right to judge him
in his courts and to ex-
act feudal services from
him. The merchant was
galled b}- the trading re-
strictions and the heavy
taxation. The country
gentry rebelled against
their exclusion from pub-
lic life and from the
go\-crnment of the coun-
tr\-. Its powerlessness to
bring about an\- change
at home turned all this
new energy into sym-
pathy with a struggle
against t}-rann\- abroad.
itself with America in its
MODERN ENGLAND
1747
contest for liberty, and French volunteers under the Marquis de
Lafayette joined Washington's army. But while the American
war spread more widely throughout the nation the craving for
freedom, it brought on the Government financial embarrassment
from which it could only free itself by an appeal to the country at
large. Lewis the Sixteenth resolved to summon the States-
General, which had not met since the time of Richelieu, and to
appeal to the nobles to waive their immunity from taxation. His
resolve at once stirred into vigorous life every impulse and desire
Sec. hi
The
Second
Pitt
1783
TO
1793
MEDAL COMMEMOKATINl; THE TAKING OF THE BASTILLE.
which had been seething in the minds of the people ; and the
States-General no sooner met at Versailles in May 1789 than the
fabric of despotism and privilege began to crumble. A rising in
Paris destroyed the Bastille, and the capture of this fortress was
taken for the sign of a new aera of constitutional freedom in I''rance
and through Europe. Even in luigland men thrilled with a strange
joy at the tidings of its fall. " flow much is this the greatest
event that ever happened in tlie uoild." l''ox cried with a burst of
enthusiasm, " and how much the best ! "
\'(>u. IV— Takt 3.S 5 ['
1748
HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE
CHAP.
Sec. Ill
The
Second
Pitt
1738
TO
1793
Pitt and
Russia
League
against
Russia
Pitt regarded the approacli of France to sentiments of liberty
which had long been familiar to England with greater coolness,
but with no distrust. I'^or the moment indeed his attention was
distracted by an attack of madness which visited the King in 1788,
and by the claim of a right to the Regency which was at once
advanced b\- the Prince of Wales. The Prince belonged to the
Whig part}' ; and I"ox, who was travelling in Italy, hurried home
to support his claim, in full belief that the Prince's Regency would
be followed by his own return to power. Pitt successfully resisted
it on the constitutional ground that in such a case the right to
choose a temporary regent, under what limitations it would, lay
with Parliament ; and a bill which conferred the Regency on the
Prince, in accordance with this viev/, was already passing the
Houses when the recovery of the King put an end to the long
dispute. Foreign difficulties, too, absorbed Pitt's attention.
Russia had risen into greatness under Catherine the_ Second ; and
Catherine had resolved from the first on the annexation of Poland,
the expulsion of the Turks from Europe, and the setting up of a
Russian throne at Constantinople. In her first aim she was baffled
for the moment by Frederick the Great. She had already made
herself virtually mistress of the whole of Poland, her armies
occupied the kingdom, and she had seated a nominee of her own
on its throne, when P'rederick in union with the Emperor Joseph
the Second forced her to admit Germany to a share of the spoil.
If the Polish partition of 1773 brought the Russian frontier west-
ward to the upper waters of the Dwina and the Dnieper, it gave
Galicia to Maria Theresa, and West Prussia to Frederick himself.
Foiled in her first aim, she waited for the realization of her second
till the alliance between the two German powers was at an end
through the resistance of Prussia to Joseph's schemes for the
annexation of Bavaria, and till the death of Frederick removed
her most watchful foe. Then in 1788 Joseph and the Em.press
joined hands for a partition of the Turkish Empire. Put Prussia
was still watchful, and England was no longer fettered as in 1773
by troubles with America. The friendship established by Chatham
between the two countries, which had been suspended by Bute's
treachery and all but destroyed during the Northern League of
Neutral Powers, had been restored by Pitt through his co-operation
MODERN ENGLAND
^749
with Frederick's successor in the restoration of the Dutch Stat-
holderate. Its pohtical weight was now seen in an alliance of
England, Prussia, and Holland in 1789 for the preservation of the
Turkish Empire. A great European struggle seemed at hand ;
and in such a struggle the sympathy and aid of France was of the
highest importance. But with the treaty the danger passed away.
In the spring of 1790 Joseph died broken-hearted at the failure
of his plans and the revolt of the Netherlands against his in-
novations ; and Austria practically withdrew from the war with
the Turks.
Meanwhile in France things moved fast. By breaking down
the division between its separate orders the States-General became
Sec. Ill
The
Seco.nd
Pitt
1783
TO
1793
Pitt and
France
MEDAL COMMEMORATING THE RETURN OF THE KING TO I'ARI.S, lySQ.
a National xVssembly, which abolished the privileges of the
provincial parliaments, of the nobles, and the Church. In October
the mob of Paris marched on Versailles and forced the King to
return with them to the capital ; and a Constitution hastily put
together was accepted by Lewis the Sixteenth in the stead of his
old despotic power. To I'ilt liic tumult and disorder with which
these great changes were wrought seemed transient matters, in
5 L' -
HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE
CHAP.
The
Second
Pitt
1783
TO
1793
Sec. Ill January 1790 he still believed that ''the present convulsions in
France must sooner or later culminate in i^eneral harmony and
regular order," and that when her own freedom was established,
" France would stand forth as one of the most brilliant powers of
Furope." But the coolness and good-will with which Pitt looked
on the Revolution was far from being universal in the nation at
England large. The cautious good sense of the l)ulk of Fnglishmen, their
aud the ^ *= . . .
Rrt'ohi. love of order and law, their distaste for violent changes and for
abstract theories, as well as their reverence for the past, were fast
MEDAI, COMMEMORATING THE "GENERAL CONFEDERATION," I79O.
rousing throughout the countr}- a dislike of the revolutionary
changes which were hurrying on across the Channel ; and both the
political sense and the political prejudice of the nation were being
fired by the warnings of Edmund Burke. The fall of the Bastille,
though it kindled enthusiasm in Fox, roused in Burke only
distrust. " Whenever a separation is made between liberty and
justice," he wrote a few weeks later, " neither is safe." The night
of the fourth of August, when the privileges of every class were
abolished, filled him with horror. He saw, and rightly saw, in it
the critical moment which re\ealcd the character of the Revolution,
MODERN ENGLAND
and his part was taken at once. " The French," he cried in Sec hi
January, while Pitt was foretelHnsr a srlorious future for the new ^the
J ■/ ^ s> t> Second
Constitution, " the French have shown themselves the ablest ^''^'^
1783
architects of ruin who have hitherto existed in the world. In a to
1793
short space of time they have pulled to the ground their army, —
their navy, their commerce, their arts and their manufactures."
But in Parliament Burke stood alone. The Whigs, though
distrustfully, followed Fox in his applause of the Revolution. The
Tories, yet more distrustfully, followed Pitt ; and Pitt warmly
expressed his sympathy with the constitutional government which
was ruling France. At this moment indeed the revolutionary
party gave a signal proof of its friendship for England. Irritated
by an English settlement at Nootka Sound in California, Spain Nootka
appealed to France for aid in accordance with the Family '^
Compact : and the French ]\Iinistr}-, with a part)' at its back which
believed things had gone far enough, resolved on a war as the best
means of checking the progress of the Revolution and restoring the
power of the Crown. The revolutionary party naturally opposed
this design ; after a bitter struggle the right of declaring war, save
with the sanction of the Assembly, was taken from the King ; and
all danger of hostilities passed awa\-. " The French Government,"
Pitt asserted, " was bent on cultivating the most unbounded
friendship for Great Britain," and he saw no reason in its
revolutionary changes why Britain should not return the friendship
of P"rance. He was convinced that nothing but the joint action of
France and England would in the end arrest the troubles of
Eastern Europe. His intervention foiled for the moment a fresh
effort of Prussia to rob Poland of Dantzig and Thorn, \^ut though
Russia was still pressing Turkey hard, a Russian war was so
unpopular in England that a hostile vote in Parliament forced Pitt
to discontinue his armaments ; and a fresh union of Austria and
Prussia, which promised at this juncture to bring about a close
of the Turkish struggle, promised also a fresh attack on the
indcj)endencc of Poland.
liut while Pitt was pleading for friendship between the two Burke
countries, I^urke was resolved to make friendship impossible. lie r"vo1u^
had long ceased, indeed, to have an)- hold owr the llousi' of *'0"
Commons. The clo(iucncc which had \ icd with that of Chatham
1752 HISTORY OF THE 1:NGLISH PEOPLE chap.
1783
TO
1793
Sec. Ill during the discussions on the Stamp Act had become distasteful
Thk to the bulk of its members. The length of his speeches, the
Second
P'TT ])rofound and philosophical character of his argument, the
splendour and often the extravagance of his illustrations, his
passionate earnestness, his want of temper and discretion, wearied
and perplexed the squires and merchants about him. He was
known at last as "the dinner-bell of the House," so rapidl}- did
its benches thin at his rising. For a time his energies found scope
in the impeachment of Hastings ; and the grandeur of his appeals
to the iusticc of luigkmd hushed detraction. Ikit with the close
of the impeachment his rcinitc had again fallen ; and the approach
of old age, for he was now past sixty, seemed to counsel retire-
ment from an assembly where he stood unpopular and alone.
But age and disappointment and loneliness were all forgotten as
Burke saw rising across the Channel the embodiment of all that
he hated — a Revolution founded on scorn of the past, and
threatening with ruin the whole social fabric \\hich the past had
reared ; the ordered structure of classes and ranks crumbling
before a doctrine of social equality ; a State rudeh' demolished
and reconstituted ; a Church and a Nobility swept away in a
night. Against the enthusiasm of what he rightly saw to be a
new political religion he resolved to rouse the enthusiasm
of the old. He was at once a great orator and a great writer ;
and now that the House was deaf to his voice, he appealed
to the countr}- by his pen. The " Reflections on the P'rench
Rcxolution " which he published in October 1790 not only
denounced the acts of rashness and violence which sullied the
great change that France had wrought, but the ver}- principles
from which the change had sprung. Burke's deep sense of the
need of social order, of the value of that continuit}- in human
affairs " without which men would become like flies in a summer,"
blinded him to all but the faith in mere rebellion, and the )-et
sillier faith in mere novelty, which disguised a real nobleness of
aim and temper even in the most ardent of the revolutionists. He
would sec no abuses in the past, now that it had fallen, or
an}-thing but the ruin of societ\' in the future. He preached
a crusade against men \\hom he regarded as the foes of religion
and civilization., and called on the armies of Furope to put do\\n
MODERN ENGLAND 1753
a Revolution whose principles threatened every state with Sec. hi
destruction. „the
Second
The crreat obstacle to such a crusade was Pitt : and one of the ^'l^
1783
grandest outbursts of the " Reflections " closed with a bitter taunt to
. 1793
at the Minister's policv. "The ag-e of chivalry," Burke cried, "is —
gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded, and the
and the glory of Europe is extinguished for ever." But neither J^^
taunt nor invective moved Pitt from his course. At the moment
when the " Reflections " appeared he gave a fresh assurance to
France of his resolve to have nothing to do with any crusade
against the Revolution. " This country," he wrote, " means to
persevere in the neutrality hitherto scrupulously observed with
respect to the internal dissensions of France ; and from which it
will never depart unless the conduct held there makes it indis-
pensable as an act of self-defence." So far indeed was he from
sharing the reactionary panic which was spreading around him
that he chose this time for supporting Fox in his Libel Act, a
measure which, by transferring the decision on what was libellous
in any publication from the judge to the jury, completed the
freedom of the press ; and himself passed a Bill which, though
little noticed among the storms of the time, was one of the noblest
of his achievements. He boldly put aside the dread which had Constitu-
been roused by the American war, that the gift of self-govern- „i!fj,\ ,„
ment to our colonies would serve only as a step towards their Canada
secession from the mother-country, and established a House of '
Assembly and a Council in the two Canadas. " I am convinced,"
said Fox (who, however, differed from Pitt as to the nature of the
Constitution to be given to Canada), " that the only method of
retaining distant colonies with advantage is to enable them to
govern themselves ; " and the policy of the one statesman and the
foresight of the other have been justified by the later history of
our dependencies. Nor had Burke better success with his own
party. P'ox remained an ardent lover of the Revolution, and
answered a fresh attack of Burke upon it with more than usual
warmth. A close affection had bound till now the two men
together ; but the fanaticism of liurke declared it at an end.
"There is no loss of friendship,' Fox exclaimed, with a siuUlrn
burst of tears. "There is!" Ikukc rci)calccl. " I know the price
T/i<' Trt-e ofJ.mi'JU'l'. - » iv///, l//r JJn/'/ /ai//'/i/i,>Jo/7/t7iu//
Satire on fox and the Rawlution, by J. Gillray.
CHAP. X MODERN ENGLAND
1755
of my conduct. Our friendship is at an end." Within the walls of Sec. hi
Parliament Burke stood utterly alone. His "Appeal from the 'i^
^ ^ SfCOND
Aew to the Old Whigs." in June 1791, failed to detach a follower f'""
from Fox. Pitt coldl\- counselled him rather to praise the English *lo^
Constitution than to rail at the French. " I have made man\' ^~
enemies and few friends," Burke wrote sadly to the French
princes who had fled from their countr\- and were gathering in
arms at Coblentz, " by the part I have taken." But the opinion of
the people was slowly drifting to his side. A sale of thirt\- Burkes
thousand copies showed that the " Reflections " echoed the ■^•uTthe
general sentiment of Englishmen. The mood of England indeed '<"""''':''
at this moment was unfavourable to any fair appreciation of the
Revolution across the Channel. Her temper was above all
industrial. Men who were working hard and fast growing rich,
who had the narrow and practical turn of men of business, looked
angrily at this sudden disturbance of order, this restless and vague
activity, the.se rhetorical appeals to human feeling, these
abstract and often empt}^ theories. In England it was a time of
political content and social well-being, of steady economic
progress, and of a powerful religious revival ; and an insular lack
of imaginative interest in other races hindered men from seeing
that every element of this content, of this order, of this peaceful
and harmonious progress, of this reconciliation of society and
religion was wanting abroad. The sympathy which the Revolu-
tion had roused at first among Englishmen died awa\- before the
violence of its legislative changes, and the growing anarch}- of the
countr\'. S\'mpathy in fact was soon limited to a 'icw groups of
reformers who gathered in " Constitutional Clubs," and whose
reckless language quickened the national reaction. l^ut in spite
of Burke's appeals and the cries of the nobles who had fled from
France and longed only to march against their countr\-, l^urope
held back from war, and Pitt preserved his attitude of neutralit}-,
though with a greater appearance c)f reser\c.
So anxious, in fact, did the aspect of affairs in the ICast ma]<c Confer-
Pitt for the restoration of tranquillity in France, that he foiled a p^nni°z
plan which its emigrant nobles had formed for a descent on
the I'rench coast, and declared f(H-mall\' at X'ienna that ICnglami
would remain absokitely neutral should liosiiliijcs ari.se between
1756 HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE chap
Sec. Ill France and the Emperor. But the Emperor was as anxious to
Tm- avoid a French war a.s I'itt hini.sclf. Though Catherine, now her
Second
P'TT Strife with 'l"urkc\- was over, wished to plunge the two German
to"' Powers into a struggle with the Revolution which would leave her
— free to annex Poland single-handed, neither Leopold nor Prussia
would tie their hands by such a contest. The flight of Lewis the
Sixteenth from I'aris in June 1791 brought luu'ope for a moment
to the verge of war ; but he was intercepted and brought back ;
and for a while the danger seemed to incline the revolutionists in
France to greater moderation. Lewis too not only accepted the
Constitution, but pleaded earnestly with the P2mperor against an}-
armed intervention as certain to bring ruin to his throne. In
Coalition their conference at Pillnitz therefore, in August, Leopold and the
France I^^^in^ of Prussia contented themselves with a vague declaration
inviting the European powers to co-operate in restoring a sound
form of government in France, availed themselves of England's
neutralit}' to refuse all military aid to the French princes, and
dealt simpl}- with the affairs of Poland. But the peace they
desired soon became impossible. The Constitutional Royalists in
France availed themselves of the irritation caused by the Declara-
tion of Pillnitz to rouse again the cry for a war which, as they
hoped, would give strength to the throne. The more violent
revolutionists, or Jacobins, on the other hand, under the influence
of the " Girondists," or deputies from the south of France, whose
aim was a republic, and who saw in a great national struggle a
means of overthrowing the monarchy, decided in spite of the
opposition of their leader, Robespierre, on a contest with the
Emperor. Both parties united to demand the breaking up of an
arm\- which the emigrant princes had formed on the Rhine ; and
though Leopold assented to this demand, France declared war
against his successor, Francis, in April 1792.
pjjf-g Misled by their belief in a revolutionar\- enthusiasm in
Struggle Kngland, the P'rench had hoped for her alliance in this war ; and
for Peace ^ ' '
the)- were astonished and indignant at Pitt's resolve to stand apart
from the struggle. It was in vain that Pitt strove to alia}' this
irritation by demanding onl}- that Holland should remain un-
touched, and promising neutrality even though Belgium should
be occupied b}- a P^rench arm}', or that he strengthened these
MODERN ENGLAND
1757
pledges b\' a reduction of military forces, and by bringing forward sec. hi
a peace-budget which rested on a larg'c remission of taxation. The
^ ^ ° _ Skcond
The revolutionists still clune: to the hope of England's aid in the P'"
. , 1783
emancipation of Europe, but they came now to believe that to
England must itself be emancipated before such an aid could be —
given. Their first work therefore thc}- held to be the bringing
about a revolution in England which might free the people from
the aristocrac}- which held it down, and which oppressed, as thc}-
believed, great peoples bc}-ond the bounds of England itself. To
rouse India, to rouse Ireland to a struggle which should shake off
the English yoke, became necessary steps to the establishment of
freedom in England. From this moment therefore French agents
were bus\- " sowing thc revolution " in each quarter. In Ireland
they entered into communication with thc United Irishmen. In
India the}* appeared at the courts of the native princes. In
England itself they strove through the Constitutional Clubs to rouse
the same spirit which they had roused in France ; and the French
envoy, Chauvelin, protested warmly against a proclamation which
denounced this correspondence as seditious. The effect of these
revolutionary efforts on thc friends of the Revolution was seen in
a declaration which the\- wrested from Fox, that at such a moment
even the discussion of parliamentary reform was inexpedient.
Meanwhile Burke was working hard, in writings whose extrava-
gance of style was forgotten in their intensity of feeling, to spread
alarm throughout Europe. He had from the first encouraged the
emigrant princes to take arms, and sent his son to join them at
Coblentz. "Be alarmists," he wrote to them; "diffuse terror!"
But the ro\-alist terror which he sowed had rou.scd a revolutionary
terror in France itself At the threat of war against thc The
Emperor thc two German Courts had drawn together, and ,jitacks
reluctantly abandoning all hope of peace with France, gathered J->-»'icc
eight)" thousand men under the Duke of Brunswick, and advanced
slowly in August on thc Mcuse. France, though she had forced 1792
on thc struggle, was really almost defenceless ; her forces in
Belgium broke at the first shock of arms into shameful rout ; and
thc panic spreading from the army to the nation at large, took
violent and horrible forms. At thc first news of lirunswick's
advance thc mob of j'aris broke into the Tuilerics on the iolh ol
H
CHAP. X MODERN ENGLAND
1759
Pitt
1783
TO
1793
August ; and at its demand Lewis, wiio had taken refuge in the Sec. hi
Assembh", was suspended from his office and imprisoned in the '^he
'■ '■ Second
Temple. In September, while General Dumouriez by boldness
and adroit negotiations arrested the progress of the allies m the
defiles of the Argonne, bodies of paid murderers butchered the
royalist prisoners who crowded the gaols of Paris, with a view of
influencing the elections to a new Convention which met to
proclaim the abolition of royalty. The retreat of the Prussian
army, whose numbers had been reduced by disease till an advance
on Paris became impossible, and a brilliant victory won by
Dumouriez at Jemappes which laid the Netherlands at his feet,
turned the panic of the French into a wild self-confidence. In
November the Convention decreed that France offered the aid of
her soldiers to all nations who would strive for freedom. " All
Governments are our enemies," said its President ; " all peoples
are our allies." In .the teeth of treaties signed only two years
before, and of the stipulation made by England when it pledged
itself to neutralit}-, the French Government resolved to attack
Holland, and ordered its generals to enforce b\- arms the opening
of the Scheldt.
To do this was to force England into war. Public opinion was France
pressing harder day by day upon Pitt. The horror of the war on
massacres of September, the hideous despotism of the Parisian "^ ^"
mob, had done more to estrange England from the Revolution
than all the eloquence of Burke. But even while withdrawing our
Minister from Paris on the imprisonment of the King, Pitt clung
stubbornly to the hope of peace. His hope was to bring the war
to an end through English mediation, and to "leave France, which
I believe is the best way, to arrange its own internal affairs as it
can." No hour of Pitt's life is so great as the hour when he stood
alone in England, and refused to bow to the growing cry of the
nation for war. Even the news of the September massacres could
only force from him a hope that France might abstain from any
war of conquest, and escape from its social anarchy. In October
the PVench agent in P^ngland reported that Pitt was about to
recognize the Republic. At the opening of November he still
pressed on Holland a stead)- ncutralit\-. It was I'rancc, and not
England, which at last wrenched from his grasp the ])cact- lo
r
^immmmmmmtf^
PROCLAMATION
D U
CONSEIL EXECUTIF
P R O V I S O I R E.
ExTRAlT des Regiftres du Confeil, du 20
Janvier i y p ^ , tan fecond de la Republ'ique.
L ^ Coiifcil exicuiif jwoviroire d^lib^rant fur
ics mcfurcs 4 prendre pour rexttuiion du dtcret
dc U Canvcnuw. nationalc , dcs ij. 17. ip &
ao Janvier >79}> amke les difpoHtiuns fuivontcs :
I * L'<u6;uuon du jugemciit dc Louis Capet
fe fcra dem^n lundi 21-
a.** Lc Ijcu de Tcx^cution fera la y/jcf Jir /«
Rhciuiian, c- - dcvant touts XV, enirc le pied-
d'cilal * les Champs-il)-fcc5.
3.* txjij:! Capet pamra du Temple A huii hcurcs
du maiin, de manicre que ruc^ulion puifTc ^irc
faitc h midi.
4." Dcs CoirmU&ircs du Dcpanemcnt dc Pan\ ,
dcs CommifTatres de la NfunicipaJit^ » deux meniWe$
du Tribunal criraincl aflineront X I'ciicurion i lc
Secrdtiirc - grcffier dc ce Trilwinal en drcflera le
proems - verb^ , 8c Icfdrts Commtflaires & Mcmbrcs
du Tribunal, aufltiot aprds I'cjt^curion confomm^c,
vicndtont ca rcndre comptc au Confeil , lequd
rcftera en feancc perraanenic pendant toute ccuc
joum^c.
Le Confeil execvdf provifoire.
Roland, Claviere, MoNGE, Ledrun, G-tRAT,
Pasche.
Par le Cov/eii , Grouvelle.
A PARIS, DE L'IMPRIMERIE NATIONALE EXI^CUTIVE DU LOUVRE. i75>3
iM.ACAKU OF ORDER FOR TIIK EXECUTION OF LOUIS XVI.
Miis^e Cainavalet-, Paris,
MODERN ENGLAND
1761
which he clung so desperately. The decree of the Convention and
the attack on the Dutch left him no choice but war. for it was
impossible for England to endure a French fleet at Antwerp, or to
desert allies like the United Provinces. But even in December
the news of the approaching partition of Poland nerved him to a
last struggle for peace ; he offered to aid Austria in acquiring
Bavaria if she would make terms with France, and pledged him-
self to France to abstain from war if that power would cease
from violating the independence of her neighbour states. But
across the Channel his moderation was only taken for fear, while
in England the general mourning which followed on the news of
the French King's execution showed the growing ardour for the
contest. The rejection of his last offers indeed made a contest
inevitable. Both sides ceased from diplomatic communications,
and in February, 1793, France issued her Declaration of War.
The
Second
Pitt
1783
ro
1793
llfe-^
FKli.NCH SAlIur. ON GEORGE III. AND PITT.
liibliotkcqiic Nationale, Paris.
HORATIO NELSON.
Portrait by J. Ilojypner, in St. James's Palace.
CHAP. X
MODERN ENGLAND
1763
Section IV. — The War with France, 1793 — 1815
\^Ai(thorities.~'Yo those mentioned before we may add Moore's Life of
Sheridan ; the Lives of Lord Castlereagh, Lord Eldon, and Lord Sidmouth ;
Romillys Memoirs ; Lord Cornwallis's Correspondence ; Mr. Yonge's Life of
Lord Liverpool ; the Diaries and Correspondence of Lord Mahnesbury, Lord
Colchester, and Lord Auckland. For the general history of England at this
time, see Alison's "History of Europe ; " for its military history, Sir William
Napier's " History of the Peninsular War.'"]
From the moment when France declared war against England
Pitt's power was at an end. His pride, his immoveable firmness, and
the general confidence of the nation still
kept him at the head of affairs ; but he
could do little save drift along with a tide
of popular feeling which he never fully
understood. The very excellences of his
character unfitted him for the conduct of
a war. He was in fact a Peace Minister,
forced into war b}- a panic and enthusi-
asm which he shared in a very small
degree, and unaided by his father's gift of
at once entering into the sympathies and
passions around him, and of rousing pas-
sions and sympathies in return. Around
him the country broke out in a fit of
frenzy and alarm which rivalled the pas-
sion and panic over-sea. The confidence
of France in its illusions as to opinion in
England deluded for the moment even
Englishmen themselves. The partisans
of Republicanism were in reality but a
few handfuls of men who played at
gathering Conventions, and at calling themselves citizens and
patriots, in childish imitation of what was going on across the
Channel. But in the mass of Englishmen the dread of revolution
passed for the hour into sheer panic. Even the bulk of the Whig
party forsook Fox when he still proclaimed his faith in I'Vance and
the Revolution. The " Old Whigs," as the)' called themsehcs,
with the Duke of Portland, Earls S])encer and ]"'it/.\villiaiii, aiui
Vol. IV— Part 38 5 .\
Sec. IV
The
War with
France
ENGLISH SAn,OR, 1 779.
Contemporary Print.
1793
TO
I815
Pitt and
the War
The
pa n ic
1764
HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE
CHAP.
Sec. 1Y
The
War with
Fraw.cp
,1793
TO
1815
Mr. Windham at their head, followed Iknkc in giving their
adhesion to the Government. Pitt himself, though little touched
b}- the political reaction around him, was shaken by the dream of
social danger, and believed in the existence of " thousands of
bandits," who were ready to rise against the throne, to plunder
every landlord, and to sack London. " Paine is no fool," he said
to his niece, who quoted to him a passage from the " Rights of
Man," in which that author had vindicated the principles of the
Revolution ; " he is perhaps right ; but if I did what he wants, I
should have thousands of bandits on my hands to-morrow, and
Results
of the
panic
London burnt." It was this sense of social danger which alone
reconciled him to the war. Bitter as the need of the struggle
which was forced upon England was to him, he accepted it with
the less reluctance that war, as he trusted, would check the
progress of "French principles" in England itself. The worst
issue of this panic was the series of legislative measures in which
it found expression. The Habeas Corpus Act was suspended,
a bill against seditious assemblies restricted the liberty of public
meeting and a wider scope was given to the Statute of Treasons.
Prosecution after prosecution was directed against the Press ; the
sermons of some dissenting ministers were indicted as seditious ;
MODERN ENGLAND
1765
and the conventions of sympathizers with France were roughly
broken up. The worst excesses of the panic were witnessed in
Scotland, where )^oung Whigs, whose only offence was an
advocacy of Parliamentary reform, were sentenced to trans-
portation, and where a brutal judge openly expressed his regret
that the practice of torture in seditious cases should have fallen
into disuse. The panic indeed soon passed away for sheer want
of material to feed on. In 1794 the leaders of the Corresponding
Society, a body which professed sympathy with France, were
brought to trial on a charge of high treason, but their acquittal
proved that all
active terror was
over. Save for
occasional riots,
to which the poor
were goaded by
sheer want of
bread, no social
disturbance trou-
bled England
through the twen-
ty years of the
war. But the blind
reaction against
all reform which
had sprung from
the panic lasted
on when the panic
was forgotten.
. (ml 'U -"
Sec. IV
The
Wak with
France
1793
TO
1815
For nearly a quarter of a century it was hard to get a hearing
for any measure which threatened change to an existing insti-
tution, beneficial though the change might be. bLven the [philan-
thropic movement which so nobly characteri/.ed the time found
itself checked and hampered by the dread of revolution.
At first indeed all seemed to go ill for r'rance. She was girt in by France
a ring of enemies ; the ICmpirc, Austria, I'russia, .Sardinia, .Spain, antl coalition
England were leagued in arms against her ; and their effc )rls were
seconded by ci\il war. The peasants of I'oilou and I'ritanu)- rose
5 \ ^
1766 HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE chap.
Sec. IV in revolt against the government at Paris, while Marseilles and
The Lyons were driven into insurrection by the violent leaders who
War with -^
France ,-,Q^y seized on powcr in the cai)ital. The French armies were
1793
driven back from the Netherlands when ten thousand English
1815
soldiers, under the Duke of York, joined the Austrians in Flanders
in 1793. But the chance of crushing the Revolution was lost by the
greed of the two German powers. Russia, as Pitt had foreseen,
was now free to carry out her schemes in the East ; and Austria
and Prussia saw themselves forced, in the interest of a balance of
power, to share in her annexations at the cost of Poland. But
NAPOLEON BUNAl'ARTK.
From an engraving by Fiesinger of a picture by Cuerin.
this new division of Poland would have become impossible had
France been enabled by a restoration of its monarchy to take up
again its natural position in Europe, and to accept the alliance
which Pitt would in such a case have offered her. The polic\'
of the German courts therefore was to prolong an anarchy which
left them free for the moment to crush Poland : and the allied
armies which might have marched upon Paris were purposel}'
frittered away in sieges in the Netherlands and the Rhine. Such
a policy gave PVance time to recover from the shock of her
X MODERN ENGLAND 1767
disasters. Whatever were the crimes and tyranny of her leaders, sec. iv
France felt in spite of them the value of the Revolution, and The
War with
rallied enthusiastically to its support. The revolts in the West France
1793
and South were crushed. The Spanish invaders were held at bay to
at the foot of the Pyrenees, and the Piedmontese were driven from ^
Nice and Savoy. The great port of Toulon, which called for of France
foreign aid against the Government of Paris, and admitted an
English garrison within its walls, was driven to surrender by
measures counselled by a young artillery officer from Corsica,
Napoleon Buonaparte. At the opening of 1794 a victory at
Fleurus which again made the French masters of the Netherlands
showed that the tide had turned. F>ance was united within by
the cessation of the Terror and of the tyranny of the Jacobins,
while on every border victory followed the gigantic efforts with
which she met the coalition against her. Spain sued for peace ;
Prussia withdrew her jarmies from the Rhine ; the Sardinians were
driven back from the Maritime Alps ; the Rhine provinces were
wrested from the Austrians ; and before the year ended Holland
was lost. Pichegru crossed the Waal in mid-winter with an over-
whelming force, and the wretched remnant of ten thousand men who
had followed the Duke of York to the Netherlands, thinned by
disease and by the hardships of retreat, re-embarked for England.
The victories of France broke up the confederacy which had Break up
threatened it with destruction. The Batavian republic which coalition
Pichegru had set up after his conquest of Holland was now an
ally of France. Prussia bought peace by the cession of her
possessions west of the Rhine. Peace with Spain followed in the
summer, while Sweden and the Protestant cantons of Switzerland
recognized the Republic. In P^rancc itself discord came well-nigh
to an end. The fresh severities against the ultra-republicans
which followed on the establishment of a Directory indicated the
moderate character of the new government, and Pitt seized on
this change in the temper of the French government as giving an 1795
opening for peace. Pitt him.self was sick of the strife. England
had maintained indeed her naval supremacy. The triumphs of
her seamen were in strange contrast with her weakness on land ;
and at the outset of the contest, in 1794, the I'Vcnch fleet was
defeated (^'i'i Brest by Lord I lowc in a victory which bore the
f-, .i;
o ^
CHAP. X MODERN ENGLAND 1769
name of the day on which it was won, the First of June. Her Sec. iv
colonial ^ains too had been considerable. Most of the West i""e
\\ AR WITH
Indian islands, which had been held by France, and the far more fkance
1793
valuable settlements of the Dutch, the Cape of Good Hope, to
Ceylon, and the famous Spice Islands of the Malaccas and Java —
had been transferred to the British Crown. But Pitt was without
means of efficiently carrying on the war. The army was small
and without militar}- experience, while its leaders were utterly
incapable. " W'e have no General," wrote Lord Grenville, " but
some old woman in a red riband." Wretched too as had been the
conduct of the war, its cost was already terrible. If England was
without soldiers, she had vvealth,^and Pitt had been forced to turn
her wealth into an engine of war. He became the paymaster of
the coalition, and his subsidies kept the allied armies in the field.
But the immense loans which these called for, and the quick
growth of expenditure, undid all his financial reforms. Taxation,
which had reached its lowest point under Pitt's peace adminis-
tration, mounted to a height undreamt of before. The public
debt rose by leaps and bounds. In three }-ears nearl)- eighty
millions had been added to it.
But though the ruin of his financial hopes, and his keen sense Progress
of the European dangers which the contest involved, made Pitt vvar
earnest to close the struggle with the Revolution, he stood almost
alone in his longings for peace. The nation at large was still
ardent for war, and its ardour was fired by Burke in his " Letters
on a Regicide Peace," the last outer}' of that fanaticism which had
done so much to plunge the world in blood. Nor was P'rance less
ardent for war than England. At the moment when Pitt sought 1796
to open negotiations, her victories had roused hopes of wider
conquests, and though General Moreau was foiled in a march on
Vienna, the wonderful successes of Napoleon Buonaparte, who now
took the command of the army of the Alps, laid Piedmont at her
feet. Lombard)' was soon in the hands of the P^rcnch, the Duchies
south of the Po pillaged, and the Pope driven to purchase an
armistice. P'resh victories enabled Buonaparte to wring a peace
from Au.stria in the treaty of Campo P^ormio, which not only gave oct. 1797
P>ance the Iranian ihlands, a jjurt of the old tcrrilor}' of X'enice, as
well as the Netherlands and the whole left bank of the Kliiiic, but
3 5;
CHAP. X
MODERN ENGLAND
1771
united Lombardy with the Duchies south of the Po, and the Papal
States as far as the Rubicon, into a " Cisalpine Republic," which
was absolutely beneath her control. The withdrawal of Austria
left France without an enemy on the Continent, and England
without an ally. The stress of the war was pressing more heavily
on her every day. The alarm of a French invasion of Ireland
brought about a suspension of specie payments on the part of the
Bank. A mutiny in the fleet was suppressed with difficulty. It
was in this darkest hour of the struggle that Burke passed away,
protesting to the last against the peace which, in spite of his
previous failure, Pitt tried in 1797 to negotiate at Lille. Peace
seemed more needful to him than ever ; for the naval supremacy of
FLAG OF THE " NIGER " DURING MUTINY AT THE NORE.
United Seniice Miiscitiit.
Britain was threatened by a coalition such as had all but crushed
her in the American war. Again the Dutch and Spanish fleets
were allied with the fleets of France, and if they gained command
of the Channel, it would enable France to send overwhelming
forces in aid of the rising which was planned in Ireland. But the
danger had hardly threatened when it was dispelled by two great
victories. When in 1797 the Spanish fleet put out to sea, it was
attacked by Admiral Jervis off Cape St. Vincent and driven back
to Cadiz with the loss of four of its finest vessels ; while the Dutch
fleet from the Tcxel, which was to protect a I'rench force in its
descent upon Ireland, was met by a far larger fleet under Admiral
Duncan, and almost annihilated in a !)att]c off Campcrdown, aftcr
Sec. IV
The
War with
France
1793
TO
iSis
Cape S/.
I 'inceiit
Fib. 14
CHAP. X MODERN ENGLAND
1773
an obstinate struggle which showed the Hollanders still worthy sec. iv
of their old renown. The ruin of its hopes in the battle of The
War with
Camperdown drove Ireland to a rising of despair ; but the revolt France
1793
TO
1815
er-
was crushed by the defeat of the insurgents at Vinegar Hill in
May, 1798, and the surrender of General Humbert, who landed in
August with a French force. Of the threefold attack on which "dmJ'ti
the Director}' relied, two parts had now broken down. England Oct. n
still held the seas, and the insurrection in Ireland had failed. The
next year saw the crowning victory of the Nile. The genius of
Buonaparte had seized on the schemes for a rising in India, where
Tippoo Sahib, the successor of Hyder Ali in Mysore, had vowed
to drive the English from the south ; and he laid before the
Directory a plan for the conquest of Egypt as a preliminary to
a campaign in
I /
MFXH.A.MCAL TIGER MADE FOR TIPPOO SULTAN.
India Museum.
Southern India.
In 1798 he land-
ed in Egypt ;
and its conquest
was rapid and
complete. But
the thirteen
men-of-war
which had es-
corted his expedition were found by Admiral Nelson in Aboukir
Bay, moored close to the coast in a line guarded at either end by
gun-boats and batteries. Nelson resolved to thrust his own ships Battle of
between the French and the shore ; his flagship led the way ; and "^^^ ^
after a terrible fight of twelve hours, nine of the French vessels were 1798
captured and destroyed, two were burnt, and five thousand French
.seamen were killed or made prisoners. All communication between
France and Buonaparte's army was cut off; and his hopes of making
Egypt a starting-point for the conquest of India fell at a blow.
Freed from the dangers that threatened her rule in Ireland and The
Pc3C C of
in India, and mistress of the seas, England was free to attack Luneviiie
France ; and in such an attack she was aided at this moment b)-
the temper of the European powers, and the cea.seless aggressions
of France. Russia formed a close alliance with Austria ; and it
was with renewed hope that I'itt lavi.shed subsidies on the two
'774
HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE
CHAP.
Sec. IV
The
War with
France
'793
TO
1815
allies. A union of the Russian and Austrian armies drove the
rVcnch back again across the Alps and the Rhine ; but the
stubborn energy of General Massena enabled his soldiers to hold
their ground in Switzerland; and the attempt of a united force of
Russians and English to wrest Holland from its I'rcnch masters
was successfully repulsed. In the I'Last, however, England was
more successful. Eoiled in his dreams of Indian conquests,
Buonaparte conceived the design of the conquest of Syria, and of
the creation of an army among its warlike m.ountaineers, with
which he might march upon Constantinople or India at his will.
But Acre, the key of Syria, was stubbornly held by the Turks, the
French battering train was captured at sea by an English captain,
.MEDAL COMMEMORATING BATTLE OF MARENGO.
.V07>. 10,
1799
Jufie 14,
1800
Sir Sidney Smith, whose seamen aided in the defence of the place,
and the besiegers were forced to fall back upon Egypt, The
French general despairing of success left his army and returned to
France. His arrival in Paris was soon followed by the overthrow
of the Directors, Three consuls took their place ; but under the
name of First Consul Buonaparte became in effect sole ruler of the
country. His energy at once changed the whole face of European
affairs. The offers of peace which he made to England and
Austria were intended to do little more than to shake the coalition,
and gain breathing time for the organization of a new force which
was gathering in secrecy at Dijon, while Moreau with the army of
the Rhine pushed again along the Danube. The First Consul
crossed the Saint Bernard in 1800, and a victory at Marengo
MODERN ENGLAND
1775
forced the Austrians to surrender Lombardy ; while a truce
arrested the march of Moreau, who had captured Munich and was
pushing on to Vienna. On the resumption of the war in the
autumn the Austrians were driven back on Vienna ; and Moreau
crushed tlicir arm}- on the Iser in the victory of Hohenhnden. In
February, 1801, the Continental War was brought suddenly to an
end by the Peace of Luneville.
It was but a few months before the close of the war that Pitt
brought about the Union of Ireland with England. The history
of Ireland, during the fifty years
that followed its conquest by Wil-
liam the Third, is one which no
Englishman can recall without
shame. After the surrender of
Limerick every Catholic Irishman,
and there were five Irish Catholics
to every Irish Protestant, was treat-
ed as a stranger and a foreigner in
his own country. The House of
Lords, the House of Commons, the
magistracy, all corporate offices in
towns, all ranks in the army, the
bench, the bar, the whole adminis-
tration of government or justice,
were closed against Catholics. The
very right of voting for their repre-
sentatives in Parliament was denied
them. Few Catholic landowners
had been left by the sweeping con-
fiscations which had followed the
successive revolts of the island, and
oppressive laws forced even these
few with scant exceptions to pro-
fess Protestantism. Necessity, in-
deed, had brought about a practical
toleration of their religion and their worship ; but in all social and
political matters the native Catholics, in other word> IIk- immense
majority of the people of Ireland, were simi>l)' hewers of wood and
drawers of water to their Protestant masters, who looked on them-
AN nusll CUIEK.
Caricature by Gillray.
Sec. IV
The
War with
Franck
1793
i«i5
Dec. 2
Ireland
under the
Georges
CHAP. X
MODERN ENGLAND
1777
selves as mere settlers, who boasted of their Scotch or English ex-
traction, and who regarded the name of " Irishman " as an insult.
But small as was this Protestant body, one half of it fared little
better, as far as power was concerned, than the Catholics ; for the
Presbyterians, who formed the bulk of the Ulster settlers, were
shut out by law from all civil, military, and municipal offices.
The
War with
France
1793
TO
1815
JOHN rHU,l'OT CURRAN.
From J. Raphael Smith's engraving of a picture hy Lawrence.
The administration and justice of the country were thus kept
rigidly in the hands of members of the Established Church, a botly
which comprised about a twelfth of the population of the island ;
while its government was practically monopolized by a few great
Protestant landowners. The rotten boroughs, which had originally
been created to make the Irish Parliament (lcj)endcnt on the
Crown, had fallen under the influence of the adjacent landlords,
who were thus masters of the House of Commons, while thr\-
formed in person the House of Peers. During the first half of tlu
Govern-
)tu'tit in
I rclaiid
i77«
HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE
CHAP
Sec. IV
The
War with
Franck
1793
TO
I815
eighteenth century two-thirds of the House of Commons, in fact,
was returned b)- a small group of nobles, who were recognized as
'■ parlianicntar\' undertakers," and who undertook to " manage "
Parliament on their own terms. Irish politics were for these men
a means of public plunder ; they were glutted with pensions,
preferments, and bribes in hard cash in return for their services •
HKNRY GRATTAN.
Picture ly F. U'/tcatley (1782), in National Portrait Gallery.
they were the ad\'iscrs of every Lord-Lieutenant, and the practical
governors of the countr\-. The only check to the t}'ranny of this
narrow and corrupt oligarchy was in the connexion of Ireland with
England and the subordination of its Parliament to the English
Privy Council. The Irish Parliament had no power of originating
legislative or financial measures, and could only say "yes" or
"no "to Acts submitted to it by the Privy Council in England.
MODERN ENGLAND
^779
The English Parliament too claimed the right of binding Ireland
as well as England by its enactments, and one of its statutes
transferred the appellate jurisdiction of the Irish Peerage to the
English House of Lords. But as if to compensate for the benefits
of its protection, England did her best to annihilate Irish com-
merce and to ruin Irish agriculture. Statutes passed b\- the
jealousy of English landowners forbade the export of Irish cattle
or sheep to English ports. The export of wool was forbidden, lest
Sec. IV
The
War with
Fr.^nce
1793
TO
I8I5
HEN'KV FLOOD.
From an engraving in Barrington's '■'■Historic Memoirs" 0/ a draiving hy Comerford.
it might interfere with the profits of English wool-growers.
Poverty was thus added to the curse of misgovernment ; and
poverty deepened with the rapid growth of the native population,
till famine turned the country into a hell.
The bitter lesson of the last conquest, however, long sufficed to
check all dreams of revolt among the natives, and the outbreaks
which sprang from time to time out of the general miserj' and
discontent were purely social in their character, and were roughly
repressed by the ruling class. W'licn political revolt threatened at
Vol. IV- I'ART 38 5 \'
Pitt and
Ireland
ijiso
HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE
CHAP.
Sec. IV last, the threat came from the ruling class itself. At the very
xi^: outset of the reign of George the Third, the Irish Parliament
War with
France insisted on its claim to the exclusive control of money bills, and a
''^•^ cvy was raised for the removal of the checks imposed on its
x8is
independence. 13ut it was not till the American war that this cry
became a political danger, a danger so real that England was
forced to give way. From the close of the war, when the Irish
Volunteers wrung legislative independence from the Rockingham
IRISH LINEN MANUFACrUKE, 1 783 : — PLOUGHING — SOWING — HARROWING.
Ministry, England and Ireland were simply held together by the
fact that the sovereign of the one island was also the sovereign of
Independ- the Other. During the next eighteen years Ireland was " in-
^Irelcmd dependent;" but its independence was a mere name for the
1782 uncontrolled rule of a few noble families and of the Irish
Executive backed by the support of the English Government. To
such a length had the whole system of monopoly and patronage
been carried, that at the time of the Union more than sixty seats
were in the hands of three families alone, those of the Hills, the
Ponsonbys, and the Beresfords ; while the dominant influence in
MODERN ENCxLAND
the Parliament now lay with the Treasury boroughs at the
disposal of the Government. The victor}' of the Volunteers
immediately produced measures in favour of the Catholics and
Presbyterians. The Volunteers had already in 1780 won for the
Presbyterians, who formed a good half of their force, full political
liberty by the abolition of the Sacramental Test ; and the Irish
Parliament of 1782 removed at once the last grievances of the
Protestant Dissenters. The Catholics were rewarded for their aid
by the repeal of the more grossly oppressiv^c enactments of the
1781
The
Wak with
Vrasck
1793
PULLING FLAX — STOCKING —RIPLI.NG — BOGGING.
penal laws. Hut when (irattan, supported b)' tlie bulk of the Irish
party, pleaded for Parliamentary reform, and for the grant of
equal rights to the Catholics, he was utterl}' foiled by the small
group of borough owners, who chiefly controlled the Government
and the Parliament. The ruling class found government to<:>
profitable to share it with other possessors. It was only b}- hard
bribery that the English Viceroys could secure their co-operation
in the simplest measures of administration. " If e\er there was a
country unfit to govern itself," said Lord Hutchinson, "it is
Ireland. A corrujjt aristocrac)', a ferocious coinmonaU)', a
5 ^■ ^
1782
HISTORY 01" THE ENGLISH PEOPLE
CHAP.
Sec. IV distracted Go\-crnmcnt, a (1i\-idcd people ! " In Pitt's eyes the
,.. 1'"' tlansjcr of Ireland la\- abo\c all in the miscrx' of its people.
vV AR WITH '^ - ^ 1 r
Franxe Aithouij-h the Irish ('atholics were held down b\' the brute force of
'"93 . . . '
their Protestant rulers, he saw that their discontent was i^rowing
1S15
f.ist into rebellion, and that one secret of their discontent at any rate
hi}- in Irish poverty, a poverty increased if not originally brought
about 1)\- the jealous e.\clusi(Mi of Irish products from their natural
markets in iMigland itself In 1779 Ireland had won from Lord
TAKING FLA.X OUT OF BOG — SPREADING TO DRY— STORING — IfEETLING — BREAKING.
North large measures of free-trade abroad ; but the heavy duties
laid by the luiglish Parliament on all Irish manufactures .save
linen and woollen }'arn still shut them out of England. One of
17S5 Pitt's fir.st commercial measures aimed at putting an end to this
exclusion by a bill which established freedom of trade between the
two islands. His first proposals were accepted in the Irish
Parliament ; but the fears and jealousies of the English farmers
and manufacturers forced into the Bill amendments which gave
to the British Parliament powers over Irish navigation and
commerce, thus over-riding their newly-won independence, and
MODERN ENGLAND
17SC
the measure in its new form was rejected in Ireland. The outbreak
of the revolutionary struggle, and the efforts which the French
revolutionists at once made to excite rebellion amongst the Irish,
roused Pitt to fresh measures of conciliation and good government.
In 1793 he forced the Irish Administration to abandon a re-
sistance which had wrecked his projects the previous year ; and
the Irish Parliament passed without opposition mca.surcs for the
admission of Catholics to the electoral franchise, and to civil and
military office within the island, which promised to open a new era
Sec. IV
The
War with
Franck
1793
ro
1815
BUTLING — SCUrCHI.NG — II.VCKLI.XG.
of religious liberty. Ikit the promise came too late. The hope of
conciliation was lost in the fast rising tide of religious and social
passion. The Society of " United Irishmen," which was founded
in 1791 at Belfast by Wolfe Tone with a view of forming a union
between Protestants and Catholics to win Parliaincntar\- icform,
drifted into a corresprjiidcncc witli l*"rancc and projects of insur-
rection. The peasantry, brooding over their misery and their
wrongs, were equally stirred by the news from I'rance ; and their
discontent broke out in outrages of secret societies which spread
panic among the ruling classes. The nn'serv was increased by
17S4
HlS'l'OKV OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE
CHAP.
Sec. IV
The
War with
Franci.
1793
KS'1'5
The
Union
faction fights between the Protestants and Catholics, which had
alread}- broken out before the French Revolution. The Catholics
banded themselves together as " Defenders " against the outrages
of the " Pecp-o'-da}- l^oys," who were inainl)' drawn from the more
\-iolent Presbx'tcrians ; and these factions became later merged in
the larger associations of the "United Irishmen" and the
" Orange-men."
At last the smouldering discontent and disaffection burst into
flame. The panic roused in 1796 b)- an attempted French
HKEAKING AND yCUTCHI.NG BV MACIIINERV.
invasion under Ilochc woke passions of cruelt}- and t\-rann}- whicli
turned Ireland into a licll. Soldiers and )-eomanr\' marched o\cr
the countr}- torturing and scourging the " croppies," as the Irish
peasantr}- were called in derision from their short-cut hair, robbing,
ravishing, and murdering. Their outrages were sanctioned b}- the
landowners who formed the Irish Parliament in a Bill of
Indemnity, and protected for the future b)- an Insurrection Act.
Meanwhile the United Irishmen prepared for an insurrection,
which was delayed b}- the failure of the French expeditions
MODERN ENGLAND
17S5
on which the\- counted for support, and above all by the victory of Sec. iv
Camperdown. Atrocities were answered by atrocities when the
revolt at last broke out in 1798. Loyalists were lashed and
tortured in their turn, and every soldier taken was butchered
without merc}'. The rebels however no sooner mustered fourteen
thousand men strong in a camp on Vinegar Hill, near Enniscorthy.
than the camp was stormed by the English troops, and the revolt
utterly suppressed. The suppression came onl\- just in time
to prevent greater disasters. A few weeks after the close of the
The
War with
France
1793
TO
1815
May 21,
1798
SPINNING — REELING WITH THE CLOCK-REEL — BOILING YARN.
rebellion nine hundred Erench soldiers under General Humbert
landed in Mayo, broke a force of thrice their number in a battle at
Castlebar, and only surrendered when the Lord-Lieutenant, Lord
Cornwallis, faced them with thirty thousand men. Pitt's disgust
at "the bigoted fury of Iri.sh Protestants" backed Lord Cornwallis
in checking the reprisals of his troops and of the Orangemen ; Init
the hideous cruelty which he was forced to witness brought about
a firm resolve to put an end to the farce of " Independence."
which left Ireland helpless in such hands. The political necessity
for a union of the twfj islands hatl been brouL^ht lioiiic to cxcr)-
1786
HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE
CHAP.
The
Wak with
France
1793
TO
I815
English statesman by the course of the Irish Parliament during
the disputes over the Regency ; for while England repelled the
claims of the Prince of Wales to the Regency as of right, the
legislature of Ireland admitted them. As the only union left
between the two peoples was their obedience to a common ruler,
such an act might conceivably have ended in their entire
severance ; and the sense of this danger secured a welcome
in England for Pitt's proposal to unite the two Parliaments. The
WINDING — WARPING— WEAVING.
1799
opposition of the Irish boroughmongers was naturall}- stubborn
and determined. But with them it was a sheer question of gold ;
and their assent was bought with a million in mone\', and with a
liberal distribution of pensions and peerages. Base and shameless
as were such means, Pitt may fairly plead that they were the only
means by which the bill for the Union could have been passed.
As the matter was finally arranged in June 1800, one hundred
Irish members became part of the House of Commons at
Westminster, and twenty-eight temporal with four spiritual peers,
chosen for life by their fellows, took their .seats in the House
MODERN ENGLAND
1787
of Lords. Commerce between the two countries was freed from Sec^iv
all restrictions, and every trading privilege of the one thrown
open to the other ; while taxation was proportionately distributed
between the two peoples.
The lavish creation of peers which formed a part of the price
paid for the Union of Ireland brought about a practical change in
our constitution. Few bodies have varied more in the number of ^^^^
their members than the House of Lords. At the close of the Wars
The
Wak with
Fkance
1793
TO
I815
Pitt
and the
WASH MILL — RUBBING BOAUUS — BEETLING ENGI.NE (EOK CLAZING)— BtJU-l-NG-HuDSE.
of the Roses the hi)- lords who remained numbered fiftN'-two ; in
Elizabeth's reign they numbered onK- sixt)' ; the prodigal creations
of the Stuarts raised them to one hundred and seventy- si. v. At
this point, however, they practically remained stationary during
the reigns of the first two Georges ; and, as we have .seen, only the
dogged opposition of W'alpole pre\-cntcd Lord .Stanliopc from
limiting the peerage to the number it had at that time reached.
Mischievous as such a measure would have been, it would at an\'
rate have prevented the la\ish creation of peerages on which
George the Third relied in tlie earl)- da\-s of his reign as oiu- of his
1788
HISTORY Ol" THE ENGLISH PEOPLE
CHAP.
Sec. IV
THt
War with
FKANCt
1793
TO
I815
Increase
of tin-
Peers
incan.s of breaking up the party government which restrained him.
l^ut what was with the King a mere means of corruption became
witli IMtt a settled pur})ose of bringing the peerage into closer
relations with the landowning and opulent classes, and rendering
the Crown independent of factious combinations among the
existing peers. While himself disdainful of hereditary honours, he
lavished them as no Minister had lavished them before. In his
first five \-ears of rule he created fort}--cight new peers. In two
later \-cars alone, 1796-7, he created thirty-five. Bj- 1801 the
WET AND DRV BLEACHING — BLEACH-MII.l..
peerages whicii were the price of the Union with Ireland had
helped to raise his creations to upwards of one hundred and forty.
So busil}- was his example followed b)- his successors that at the
end of George the Third's reign the number of hereditary peers
had become double what it was at his accession. The whole
character of the House of Lords was changed. Up to this time it
had been a small assembly of great nobles, bound together by
family or party ties into a distinct power in the State. From this
time it became the stronghold of propert}-, the representative of
the ijreat estates and great fortunes which the vast increase of
MODERN ENGLAND
1789
English wealth was building up. For the first time, too, in our
history it became the distinctly conservative element in our
constitution. The full import of Pitt's changes has still to be
revealed, but in some ways their results have been clearly marked.
The larger number of the peerage, though due to the will of the
Crown, has practically freed the House from any influence which
the Crown can exert b>- the distribution of honours. This change,
since the power of the Crown has been practically wielded by the
Sec. IV
The
War with
Fkance
1793
TO
I815
l.AFPING-ROOM— MEASURING — CRISl'ING — FOI.DINC;
House of Commons, has rendered it far harder to reconcile the
free action of the Lords with the regular working of constitutional
government. On the other hand, the increased number of its
members has rendered the IIou.se more responsi\c to jiublic
opinion, when public opinion is strongly pronounced ; and the-
political tact which is inherent in great aristocratic assemblies has
hitherto prevented an)' collision with the T.owcm- House from
being pushed to an irreconcilable quarrel.
]^ut the legislative union of the two countries was oiil)- part of Catholic
the ];lan which I'ill had conceived for the concihat ion of hcland. cipation
179°
HISTORY OF THE ExNGLlSH PEOPLE
CHAP.
Sec. IV
The
War with
l-KANCE
'793
1 815
With the conclusion of the Union his projects of free trade between
the countries, which had been defeated a few years back, came into
play ; and in spite of insufficient capital and social disturbance the
growth of the trade, shipping, and manufactures of Ireland has-
gone steadily on from that time to this. The change which
brought Ireland directly under the common Parliament was
followed too by a gradual revision of its oppressive laws, and an
amendment in their administration ; taxation was lightened, and
a faint beginning made of public instruction. But in Pitt's mind
BROWN LINEN MARKKT, BANBRIUGE.
Pitt's
policy
the great means of conciliation was the concession of religious
equality. In proposing to the Plnglish Parliament the union of
the two countries he pointed out that when thus joined to a
Protestant country like England all danger of a Catholic supremacy
in Ireland, should Catholic disabilities be removed, would be
practically at an end ; and had suggested that in such a case " an
effectual and adequate provision for the Catholic clergy " would be
a security for their loyalty. His words gave strength to the hopes
of " Catholic Emancipation," or the removal of what remained of
the civil disabilities of Catholics, which were held out by the
MODERN ENGLAND 1791
viceroy, Lord Castlereagh, in Ireland itself, as a means of hindering sec. iv
any opposition to the project of Union on the part of the Catholics. The
\\ AR WITH
It was agreed on all sides that their opposition would have secured Frakck
its defeat ; but no Catholic opposition showed itself After the n''
passing of the bill, Pitt prepared to lay before the Cabinet a —
measure which would have raised the Irish Catholic to perfect
equality of ci\-il rights. He proposed to remove all religious tests
which limited the exercise of the franchise, or were required for
admission to Parliament, the magistracy, the bar, municipal offices,
or posts m the army, or the service of the State. An oath of
allegiance and of fidelity to the Constitution was substituted for the
Sacramental test ; while the loyalty of the Catholic and Dissenting
clergy was secured by a grant of some provision to both by the
State. To win over the Episcopal Church, measures were added
for strengthening its means of discipline, and for increasing the
stipends of its poorer ministers. A commutation of tithes was to
remove a constant source of quarrel in Ireland between the
Protestant clergy and the Irish people. The scheme was too large Its defeat
and statesmanlike to secure the immediate assent of the Cabinet ;
and before that assent could be won the plan was communicated
through the treachery of the Chancellor, Lord Loughborough, to
George the Third. " I count any man m)- personal enem}'," the
King broke out angrily to Dundas, " who proposes an}- such
measure." Pitt answered this outburst by submitting his whole
plan to the King. " The political circumstances under which the
exclusive laws originated," he wrote, "arising cither from the con-
flicting powers of hostile and near)}' balanced sects, from the
apprehension of a Popish Queen as successor, a disputed succession
and a foreign pretender, a division in Europe between Catholic and
Protestant Powers, arc no longer applicable to the present state of
things." But argument was wasted upon George the Third. In
spite of the decision of the lawyers whom he consulted, the King
held himself bound by his Coronation Oath to maintain the tests.
On this point his bigotry was at one wilii tlic bigotr\- of the bulk
of his subjects, as well as with their political distrust of Catholics
and Iri.shmen; and his ob.stinacy was strengthened by a knowledge
that his refusal must drive Pitt from office. In l*'cbruary i.Soi, the /v//
month of the Peace (jf Luncvillc, Pitt resigned, ant! was succeeded '"'■■^'.V'-^
1792
HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE
CHAP.
The
War with
Franck
1793
TO
1815
The
Adding-
ton
Ministry
Sec. IV by the S})cakcr of the House of Commons, Mr. Addington, a weak
and narrow-minded man, and as bigoted as the King himself. Of
Lord Hawkesbur}-, who succeeded Lord Grenville in the conduct
of foreign affairs, nothing was known outside the House of
Commons.
It was with anxiety that England found itself guided by men
like these at a time when every hour brought darker news. The
scarcity of bread was mounting to a famine. Taxes were raised
anew, and }-et the loan for the year amounted to five and twenty
millions. The country stood utterly alone ; while the peace of
Luneville secured France from all hostility on the Continent. And
it was soon plain that this peace was onh- the first step in a new
policy on the part of the First Consul. What he had done w^as to
free his hands for a decisive conflict with Britain itself, both as a
world-power and as a centre of wealth. England was at once the
carrier of European commerce, and the workshop of European
manufactures. While her mines, her looms, her steam-engines,
were giving her almost a monopoly of industrial production, the
carrying trade of France and Holland alike had been transferred to
the British flag, and the conquest during the war of their richer
settlements had thrown into British hands the whole colonial trade
of the world. In his gigantic project of a " Continental System "
the aim of Buonaparte was to strike at the trade of England by
closing the ports of Europe against her ships. By a league of the
Northern powers he sought to wrest from her the command of the
seas. Denmark and Sweden, who resented the severity with which
Britain enforced that right of search which had brought about
their armed neutrality at the close of the American war, were
enlisted in a league of neutrals which was in effect a declaration of
war against England, and which Prussia was prepared to join.
The Czar Paul of Russia on his side saw in the power of Britain
the chief obstacle to his designs upon Turkey. A squabble over
Malta, which had been taken from the Knights of St. John by
Buonaparte on his way to Egypt, and had ever since been
blockaded by English ships, but whose possession the Czar claimed
as his own on the ground of an alleged election as Grand Master
of the Order, served him as a pretext for a quarrel with England,
and Paul openly prepared for hostilities. It was plain that as soon
The Con-
tinental
System
MODERN ENGLAND
1793
Sec. IV
The
War with
France
1793
TO
I8IS
The
as spring opened the Baltic, the fleets of Russia, Sweden, and
Denmark would act in practical union with those of France and
Spain. But dexterous as the combination was it was shattered at
a blow. In April a British fleet appeared before Copenhagen, and
after a desperate struggle silenced the Danish batteries, captured
six Danish .ships, and forced Denmark to conclude an armistice Coalition
which enabled English ships to enter the Baltic. The Northern ^"''"^''" "^
^ ^ ^ 1801
Coalition too was broken up by the death of the Czar. In June a
Convention between England and Russia settled the ve.Kcd ques-
tions of the right of search and contraband of war, and this Con-
vention was accepted by Sweden and Denmark. Meanwhile, at
the very moment of the attack on Copenhagen, a stroke as cffcctiv^e
MEDAL GIVEN TO INDIAN TROOPS FOR VICTORIES IN EGVI'T, iSoi.
Tancred, " Historical Record of Medals."
had wrecked the projects of Buonaparte in the East. The
surrender of Malta to the English fleet left England the mistress
of the Mediterranean ; and from Malta she now turned to Egypt
itself A force of 15,000 men under General Abcrcromby
anchored in Aboukir Ba)'. The French troops that Buonaparte
had left in Egypt rapidly concentrated, and on the 21st of March
their general attacked the English army. After a stubborn battle,
in which Abercromby fell mortally wounded, the I-'rench drew off
with heavy loss ; and at the close of June the capitulation of the
13,000 soldiers who remained closed the French rule over ICgyj)!.
Both parties in this gigantic struggle however were at last
anxious to suspend the war. It was to give time for such an
orcranization (jf I'rancc and its resources as niiLrht enable him to
The
Peace of
Amiens
CHAP. X
MODERN ENGLAND
1795
reopen the struggle with other chances of success that Buonaparte
opened negotiations for peace at the close of 1801. His offers
were at once met b)- the English Government. The terms of the
Peace of Amiens, which was concluded in March 1802, were
necessarily simple, for England had no claim to interfere with the
settlement of the Continent. France promised to retire from
Southern Italy, and to leave to themselves the republics it had
set up along its border in Holland, Switzerland, and Piedmont.
England recognized the French Government, gave up her newly
conquered colonies save Ceylon and Trinidad, acknowledged the
Sec. IV
'rHE
Wak with
Fk.vnce
1793
TO
I815
MALTA.
After /. M. IV. Turner.
Ionian Islands as a free Republic, and engaged to replace the
Knights of St. John in the isle of Malta. There was a general
sense of relief at the close of the long struggle ; and the new
French ambassador was drawn in triumi^h on his arrival through
the streets of London. But shrewd observers saw the dangers that
lay in the temper of the P'irst Consul. Whatever had been the
errors of the PVench revolutionists, even their worst attacks on the
independence of the nations around them had been veiled h)- a
vague notion of freeing the peoples whom the}- in\-adcd from the
yoke of their rulers. IjuI the aim of Ikionaparte was simp!)' that
Vol. IV— Part 39 5 /
Di-xlirns of
Xtipolvun
3 ^
^^^^^li^^^^d^i^^
CHAP. X
MODERN ENGLAND
1797
Sec. IV
The
War with
Fran'ce
1793
TO
I815
of a vulgar conqueror. He was resolute to be master of the
\\ estern world, and no notions of popular freedom or sense of
national right interfered with his resolve. The means at his
command were immense. The political life of the Revolution had
been cut short by his military despotism, but the new social vigour
which it had given to France through the abolition of privileges
and the creation of a new middle class on the ruins of the clergy
and the nobles still lived on. While the dissensions which tore
France asunder were hushed by the policy of the First Consul,
by his restoration of the Church as a religious power, his recall of
the exiles, and the economj^ and wise administration which
distinguished his rule, the centralized system of government be-
queathed by the Monarchy to the Revolution, and by the Revolu-
tion to Buonaparte, enabled him easily to seize this national vigour
for the profit of his own despotism. The exhaustion of the
brilliant hopes raised by the Revolution, the craving for public
order, the military enthusiasm and the impulse of a new glory
given by the wonderful victories France had won, made a Tyranny
possible ; and in the hands of Buonaparte this t}'rann\' was
supported by a secret police, by the suppression of the press and
of all freedom of opinion, and above all by the iron will and
immense ability of the First Consul himself Once chosen Consul
for life, h^ felt himself secure at home, and turned restlessly to the
work of outer aggression. The pledges given at Amiens were set
aside. The republics established on the borders of France were
brought into mere dependence on his will. Piedmont and Parma
were annexed to France ; and a P^rench army occupied Switzerland.
The temperate protests of the English Government were answered Declara-
by demands for the expulsion of the French exiles who had been ,j,„/
li\ing in England ever since the Revolution, and for its surrender
of Malta, which was retained till some security could be devised
against a^ fresh seizure of the island by the French fleet. It was
plain that a struggle was inevitable ; huge armaments were pre-
paring in the French ports, and a new activity was .seen in those of
Spain. In May 1803 the British Government anticipated Buona-
parte's attack by a declaration of war.
The breach only quickened Buonaparte's resolve to attack the Trafalgar
enemy at home. The difficulties in his way he set contcmpUiousI\-
5 ^^ ^
CHAP. X
MODERN ENGLAND
1799
Sec. IV
The
War with
France
1793
TO
1815
The
Camp at
MEDAL COMMKMoRATIXG THE
OATH AT BOULOGNE.
aside. " Fifteen millions of people," he said, in allusion to the dis-
proportion between the population of England and France, " must
give \va}' to fort\' millions ; " and an in-
vasion of England itself was planned on
a gigantic scale. A camp of one hun-
dred thousand men was formed at Bou-
logne, and a host of flat-bottomed boats ^'"'^°S'''^
gathered for their conveyance across the
Channel. The peril of the nation forced
Addington from office and recalled Pitt
to power. His health was broken, and
as the da\'s went by his appearance be-
came so haggard and depressed that it
was plain death was drawing near. But d\'ing as he really was,
the nation clung to him with all its old faith. He was still
the representative of_ national union ; and he proposed to include
Fox and the leading Whigs in his new ministry, but he was foiled
by the bigotry of the King ; and the refusal of Lord Grenville and
of Windham to take office without Fox, as. well as the loss of his
post at a later time by his ablest supporter, Dundas, left him almost
alone. But lonely as he was, he faced difficulty and danger with
the same courage as of old. The invasion seemed imminent when
Buonaparte, who now assumed the title of the Emperor Napoleon,
appeared in the camp at Boulogne. " Let us be masters of the
Channel for
six hours," he
is reported to
havesaid,"and
we arc masters
I if the world."
A skilfully
combined
plan by which
the B r i t i s h
fleet w o u 1 d
have been divided, while the whole l''rcnch navy was concentrated in
the Channel, was delayed by the death of the admiral destined to
execute it. l^ut the alliance with .Spain placed the .Spanish fleet at
-MKD.AL MkLCK ii V .NAPOLEON IN ANTICU'A IIO.N OK
INVASION OK E.NGLAND.
PART OF LETTER WRITTEN BY NELSON JUST HEFORE THE BATTLE OF TRAFALGAR.
Royal Naval College, Greorjuich.
CHAP. X
MODERN ENGLAND
iSoi
OI.r> BRISTOI,
VOLUNTKEU.
Xicholls and Taylor,
"Bristol Past anil
Present."
The
War with
Kranck
1793
TO
I815
League
ngaiitsf
France
Napoleon's disposal, and in 1805 he planned its union with that of Sec. iv
France, the crushing of the squadron which blocked the ports of the
Channel before the English ships which were watching the Spanish
armament could come to its support, and a crossing of the vast arma-
ment thus protected to the English shore. The three hundred thou-
sand volunteers mustered in England to meet the coming attack-
would have offered small hindrance to the veterans of the Grand
Army,had they once crossed the Channel. But Pitt had already found
work for France elsewhere. The alarm of the Continental Powers
had been brought to a head by Napoleon's annexation of Genoa ;
Pitt's subsidies had removed the last obstacle in
the way of a league ; and Russia, Austria, and
Sweden joined in an alliance to wrest Italy and
the Low Countries from the grasp of the French
Emperor. Napoleon meanwhile swept the sea in
vain for a glimpse oj" the great armament whose
assembly in the Channel he had so skilfully planned.
Admiral X'illcneuvc, uniting the Spanish ships with
his own squadron from Toulon, drew Nelson in
pursuit to the West Indies, and then, suddenly
returning to Cadiz, hastened to form a junction
with the P^rench squadron at Brest and crush the
English fleet in the Channel. But a headlong
pursuit brought Nelson up with him ere the
manoeuvre was complete, and the two fleets met
on the 2 1st of October, 1805, off Cape Trafalgar.
" England." ran Nelson's famous signal, " expects
every man to do his duty ; " and though he fell
himself in the hour of victor}-, twenty P^-ench sail had struck their
flag ere the day was done. '* England has saved herself by her
courage," Pitt said in what were destined to be his last public
words : " she will save Europe by her example I " But even before
the victory of Trafalgar Napoleon had al)andoncd the dream of in-
vading England to meet the coalition in his rear ; and swinging
round his forces on the Danube he forced an Austrian army to
capitulation in Ulm three days before his naval defeat, l-'rom Ulm \ov. iSo
he marched on Vienna, and crushed the conibini'd armii-s of Austria
and Russia in the battle of Austerlitz. " Auslcrlil/.," W'ilbirforcc
l802
HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE
CHAP.
Sec. IV
The
War with
France
1793
TO
1815
wrote in his diary, " killed Pitt." Though he was still but forty-
seven, the hollow voice and wasted frame of the great Minister had
long tokl that tlcath was near ; and the blow to his hopes proved
fatal. " Roll up that map," he said, pointing to a map of Europe
which hung upon the wall : " it will not be wanted these ten
AKTIuR, l^oo.RT^o
nelson's monument, in crypt of s. Paul's cathedral.
Death of years ! " Once only he rallied from stupor ; and those who bent
over him caught a faint murmur of " My country ! How I leave
my country!" On the 23rd of January, 1806, he breathed his
last ; and was laid in Westminster Abbey in the grave of Chatham.
" What grave," exclaimed Lord Wellesley, " contains such a father
MODERN ENGLAND 1803
and such a son ! What sepulchre embosoms the remains of so Sec. iv
much human excellence and elorv ! " '^he
^ ^ War with
So great was felt to be the loss that nothing but the union of France
- 1793
parties, which Pitt had in vain desired durins: his lifetime, could to
fill up the gap left by his death. In the new Ministry Fox, with —
the small body of popular Whigs who were bent on peace and Grenville
internal reform, united with the aristocratic Whigs under Lord ^'"^^^""y
Grenville and with the Tories under Lord Sidmouth. All home
questions in fact were subordinated to the need of saving Europe
from the ambition of France, and in the resolve to save Europe
Fox was as resolute as Pitt himself. His hopes of peace, indeed,
were stronger ; but they were foiled by the evasive answer which
Napoleon gave to his overtures, and by a new war which he under-
took against Prussia, the one power which seemed able to resist
his arms. On the 14th of October, 1806, a decisiv^e victory at jena jena
laid North Germany at Napoleon's feet. Death only a month
before saved Fox from witnessing the overthrow of his hopes ; and
his loss weakened the Grenville Cabinet at the opening of a new
and more desperate struggle with France. Napoleon's earlier
attempt at the enforcement of a Continental System had broken
down with the failure of the Northern League ; but in his mastery
of Europe he now saw a more effectiv^e means of realizing his
dream ; and he was able to find a pretext for his new attack in
England's own action. By a violent stretch of her rights as a com-
batant she had declared the whole coast occupied b)' France and
its allies, from Dantzig to Trieste, to be in a state of blockade. It
was impossible to enforce such a " paper blockade," even with
the immense force at her disposal ; and Napoleon seized on
the opportunity to retaliate by the entire exclusion of Pritish
commerce from the Continent, an exclusion which he trusted would
end the war by the ruin it would bring on the English manu-
facturers. A decree was issued from Hcrlin which — without a The
single ship to carry it out- — placed the British Islands in a state nccrve
of blockade. All commerce or communication with ihcm was ^'ov. 1S06
prohibited ; all English goods or manufactures found in the
territory of F"rancc or its allies were declared liable to confiscation ;
and their harbours were closed, not only against vessels coming
from Britain but against all wIkj had touched at her ports. The
AKBER, KING OF DELHI, AND SIR THOMAS METCALFE.
Illumination, c. 1830, in India Museion.
CHAP. X
MODERN ENGLAND
1805
attempt to enforce such a system was foiled indeed by the rise of a
widespread contraband trade, by the reluctance of Holland to aid
in its own ruin, by the connivance of officials along the Prussian
and Russian shores, and by the pressure of facts. It was impossible
even for Napoleon himself to do without the goods he pretended
to exclude ; an immense system of licences soon neutralized his
decree ; and the French army which marched to Eylau was clad
in great-coats made at Leeds, and shod with shoes made at
Northampton. But if it failed to destroy British industry, it told
The
War with
France
1793
TO
18IS
rAi.i:rriA .Mill 11. \, 1S02.
Gcntlcmati s Mitgaziuc.
far more fatally on British commerce. Trade began to move
from English vessels, which were subject to instant confiscation,
and to pass into the hands of neutrals, and especially of the
Americans. The merchant class called on the Government to pro-
tect it, and it was to this appeal that the Grcnxillc Ministry
replied in January, 1807, by an Order in Council which declared Orders in
all the ports of the coast of France and her allies under blockade,
and any neutral vessels trading between them to be good prize.
Such a step was far from .satisfying the liritish merchants. Hut
their ap[jcal was no longer to Lord Grenvillc. The forces of
iSo6 HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE chap.
Sec. IV ignorance and bigotn- which had been too strong for Pitt were too
The strong for the Grenvillc Ministry. Its greatest work, the abolition
War with ^ , o >
Fkance Qf {-j^g slave trade, in February, was done in the teeth of a vic:orous
1793
TO opposition from the Tories and the merchants of Liverpool ; and
— in March the first indication of its desire to open the question of
religious equality by allowing Catholic officers to serve in the army
was met on the part of the King b}' the demand of a pledge not
to meddle with the question. On the refusal of this pledge the
Ministry was dismissed.
Canning Its fall was the final close of the union of parties brought
about by the peril of P^rench invasion ; and from this time to
the end of the war England was wholly governed by the Tories.
The nominal head of the Ministry which succeeded that of Lord
Grenville was the Duke of Portland ; its guiding spirit was the
Foreign Secretary, George Canning, a young and devoted adherent
of Pitt, whose brilliant rhetoric gave him power over the House of
Commons, while the vigour and breadth of his mind gav^e a new
energy and colour to the war. At no time had opposition to
Napoleon seemed so hopeless. From Berlin the P^mperor marched
into the heart of Poland, and though checked in the winter by the
Russian forces in the hard-fought battle of Eylau, his victory of
Friedland brought the Czar Alexander in the summer of 1807 to
Peace 0/ cousent to the Peace of Tilsit. From foes the two Emperors of
Western and Eastern Europe became friends, and the hope of
French aid in the conquest of Turkey drew Alexander to a close
alliance with Napoleon. Russia not only enforced the Berlin decrees
against British commerce, but forced Sweden, the one ally that
England still retained on the Continent, to renounce her alliance.
The Russian and Swedish fleets were thus placed at the service of
France ; and the two Emperors counted on securing the fleet of Den-
mark, and again threatening by this union the maritime supremacy
which formed P^ngland's real defence. The hope was foiled by
the appearance off Elsinore in July 1807 of an expedition, promptly
and secretly equipped by Canning, with a demand for the sur-
render of the Danish fleet into the hands of England, on pledge of
its return at the close of the war. On the refusal of the Danes
the demand was enforced by a bombardment of Copenhagen ; and
the whole Danish fleet, with a vast mass of naval stores, was
Ti/sit
MODERN ENGLAND
1807
carried into British ports. It was in the same spirit of almost Sec. iv
reckless decision that Canning^ turned to meet Napoleon's '^'"^
^ '^ Vt AR WITH
Continental System. In November he issued fresh Orders in
Council. By these France, and every Continental state from
Fka.ncf.
1793
I8I5
GKOUGIi CANNING.
/;i(si in h'ationnl Portrait Gallery.
which the British flag was excluded, was put in a state of
blockade, and all vessels bound for their harbours were hckl
subject to seizure unless they had touched at a British port. The
orders were at once met by another decree of Na[)ole()ii issued at Drcnu
The
Milan
i8o8
HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE
CHAP.
Sec. IV Milan in December, which declared every
nation, comint^ from or
)r ail)' l^ritisli colony, to
The vessel, of whatcvcr nation, comintj from or
\\ AK WITH '^
KRANcii bound to l^rilain
1793
TO have forfeited its character as a neutral, and
1815
- — to be Hable to seizure.
The Pen-
insular
War
OFFICER, 1792,
The Fortieth Regiment.'
Meanwhile the effect of the Continental
System upon Napoleon was to drive him to
aggression after aggression in order to main-
tain the material union of Europe against
Britain. He was absolutely master of Western
Europe, and its whole face changed as at an
enchanter's touch. Prussia was occupied by
French troops. Holland was changed into a
monarchy by a simple decree of the French
Emperor, and its crown bestowed on his
brother Louis. Another brother, Jerome, be-
came King of Westphalia, a new realm built
up out of the Electorates of Hesse Cassel and Hanover. A third
brQther, Joseph, was made King of Naples : while the rest of Italy,
and even Rome itself, was annexed to the
French Empire. It was the hope of effectually
crushing the world-power of Britain which
drove him to his worst aggression, the aggres-
sion upon Spain. He acted with his usual
subtlety. In October 1807 France and Spain
agreed to divide Portugal between them ; and
on the advance of their forces the reigning
house of Braganza fled helplessly from Lisbon
to a refuge in Brazil. But the seizure of
Portugal was only a prelude to the seizure of
Spain. Charles the Fourth, whom a riot in
his capital drove at this moment to abdica-
tion, and his son, Ferdinand the Seventh,
were drawn to Bayonne in May 1808, and
forced to resign their claims to the Spanish
crown ; while a French army entered
Madrid and proclaimed Joseph Buonaparte
But this hi</h-handed act of aggression was
HUSSAR OFFICER.
Print, 1807.
King of Spain.
MODERN ENGLAND
1809
FRENXH EAGLL FRO^f SPAIN.
United Service Institution.
hardly completed when Spain rose as one man against the
stranger ; and desperate as the effort of its people seemed, the news
of the rising was welcomed throughout England with a burst of
enthusiastic joy. " Hitherto," cried Sheridan, a leader of the
Whig opposition," Buonaparte has
contended with princes without
dignity, numbers without ardour,
or peoples without patriotism. He
has yet to learn what it is to
combat a people who arc ani-
mated by one spirit against him."
Tory and Whig alike held that
" never had so happy an oppor-
tunity existed in Britain to strike
a bold stroke for the rescue ot
the world ; " and Canning at once
resolved to change the system of
desultory descents on colonies and
sugar islands for a vigorous warfare in the Peninsula. Supplies
were sent to the Spanish insurgents with reckless profusion, and
two small armies placed under the command of Sir John Moore
and Sir Arthur Wellesley for service in the
Peninsula. In July 1808 the surrender at
Baylen of a French force which had invaded
Andalusia gave the first shock to the power
of Napoleon, and the blow was followed by
one almost as severe. Landing at the Mon-
dego with fifteen thousand men. Sir Arthur
Wellesley drove the French army of Portugal
from the field of Vimiera, and forced it to
surrender in the Convention of Cintra on the
30th of y\ugust. l^ut the tide of success
was soon roughly turned. Napoleon appcircd
in Spain with an army of two hundred
thousand men; and Moore, who had advanced from Lisbon
to Salamanca to support the .Spanish armies, found ihcni
crushed on the ICbro, and was driven to fdl hastily back on the
coast. His ffjrce saved its honour in a battle before ("orunna,
Sec. IV
Thk
War with
Fran'ce
1793
TO
I8IS
The
rising of
Spain
SPANISH COCKADK.
United Set-vice Institution.
iSio
HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE
CHAP.
Sec. IV
The
War with
France
1793
TO
I815
Jan. 16,
1809
which enabled it to embark in safety ; but elsewhere all seemed
lost. The whole of northern and central Spain was held by
the h^-cnch armies ; and even Zaragoza, which had once
MAJuR-GENERAL WEI.LESLEV, AETEKWARDS DUKE OF WELLI.NGTON.
Engraved by O. Lacour from a painting by Robert Home, i?o6.
heroically repulsed them, submitted after a second equally
desperate resistance.
Wellesley The landing of the wreck of Moore's army and the news of the
Spanish defeats turned the temper of England from the wildest
hope to the deepest despair ; but Canning remained unmoved. On
MODERN ENGLAND 1811
the day of the evacuation of Corunna he signed a treaty of alHance sec. iv
with the Spanish Junta at Cadiz ; and the English force at Lisbon, 1 "k
\\ AK WITH
which had already prepared to leave Portugal, was reinforced with i'kance
thirteen thousand fresh troops, and placed under the command of to
Sir Arthur Wellcsley. "Portugal," Wellesley wrote coolly, " may — :
be defended against any force which the French can bring against
it." At this critical moment the best of the French troops with
the Emperor himself were drawn from the Peninsula to the
Danube ; for the Spanish rising had roused Austria as well as
England to a renewal of the struggle. When Marshal Soult there-
fore threatened Lisbon from the north, Wellesley marched boldly
against him, drove him from Oporto in a disastrous retreat, and,
suddenly changing his line of operations, pushed with twenty
thousand men by Abrantes on Madrid. He was joined on the march
by a Spanish force of thirty thousand men ; and a bloody action
with a French army of equal force at Talavera, in July 1809,
restored the renown of English arms. The losses on both sides
were enormous, and the French fell back at the close of the
struggle ; but the fruits of the victory were lost by a sudden
appearance of Soult on the English line of advance, and Wellesley
was forced to retreat hastily on Badajoz. His failure was em-
bittered by heavier disasters elsewhere. Austria was driven to sue
for peace by Napoleon's victory at Wagram ; and a force of forty
thousand English soldiers which had been despatched against
Antwerp returned home baffled after losing half its numbers in the
marshes of Walcheren.
The failure at Walcheren brought about the fall of the I'ortland Torres
Ministry. Canning attributed the disaster to the incoinpctence of
Lord Castlereagh, an Irish peer who, after taking the chief part in
bringing about the union between England and Ireland, had been
raised by the Duke of Portland to the post of Sccretar\- at War ;
and the quarrel between the two Ministers ended in a duel, and in
their resignation of their offices. The Duke of Portland rctiretl
with Canning ; and a new ministry was formed out of the more ^yr^,
Tory members of the late administration under the guidance of (';•'-'•'•"•"/
Spencer Perceval, an industrifjus mediocrit)- of the narrowest t)i)C ;
the Marquis of Wellesley, a brother of the English general in Si)ain,
becoming Foreign Secretary. lUit if Perceval and his colleagues
Vol.. IV— I'AKT 39 6 A
iSi2 HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE chap.
Sec. IV possessed few of the higher qualities of statesmanship, they had
The one characteristic which in the actual position of English affairs
War with
Kkanle ^vas bcx'ond all price. They were resolute to continue the war.
to"' In the nation at large the fit of enthusiasm had been followed b\- a
— - fit of despair ; and the City of London even petitioned for a with-
drawal of the English forces from the Peninsula. Napoleon seemed
irresistible, and now that Austria was crushed and England stood
alone in opposition to him, the Emperor resolved to put an end to
the strife by a vigorous prosecution of the war in Spain. Anda-
lusia, the one province which remained independent, was invaded
in the opening of 1810, and with the exception of Cadiz reduced to
submission ; while Marshal Mas.sena with a fine army of eighty
thousand men marched upon Lisbon. Even Perceval abandoned
all hope of preserving a hold on the Peninsula in face of these new
efforts, and threw on Wellesley, who had been raised to the peerage
as Lord Wellington after Talavera, the responsibility of resolving
to remain there. But the cool judgement and firm temper which
distinguished Wellington enabled him to face a responsibility from
which weaker men would have shrunk. " 1 conceive," he answered,
" that the honour and interest of our country require that we should
hold our ground here as long as possible ; and, please God, I will
maintain it as long as I can." By the addition of Portuguese troops
who had been trained under British officers, his army was now
raised to fifty thousand men ; and though his inferiority in force
compelled him to look on while Massena reduced the frontier
fortresses of Ciudad Rodrigo and Almeida, he inflicted on him a
heavy check at the heights of Busaco, and finally fell back, in
October 18 10, on three lines of defence which he had .secretly
constructed at Torres Vedras, along a chain of mountain heights
crowned with redoubts and bristling with cannon. The position
was impregnable ; and able and stubborn as ^^lassena was, he found
him.self forced after a month's fruitless effort to fall back in a
masterly retreat ; but so terrible were the privations of the French
army in passing again through the wasted country that it was
only with forty thousand men that he reached Ciudad Rodrigo, in
the spring of 181 1. Reinforced by fresh troops, Massena turned
fiercely to the relief of Almeida, which Wellington had besieged ;
but two da)-s' bloody and obstinate fighting, in May 181 1, failed to
MODERN ENGLAND
i8i
B*r^
1
SILVER PENNY OF WASH
IXGTON, 1792.
drive the English army from its position at Fuentes d'Onore, and
the Marshal fell back on Salamanca and relinquished his effort to
drive Wellington from Portugal.
Great as was the effect of Torres Vedras in restoring the spirit
of the English people and in reviving throughout Europe the hope
of resistance to the tyranny of Napoleon,
its immediate result was little save the
deliverance of Portugal. The French re-
mained masters of all Spain save Cadiz
and the eastern provinces, and even the
cast coast was reduced in 181 1 by the
vigour of General Suchet. While England
thus failed to rescue Spain from the
aggression of Napoleon, she was suddenly
brought face to face with the result of
her own aggression in America. The Orders in Council with
which Canning had attempted to prevent the transfer of the
carrying trade from English to neutral ships, by compelling all
vessels on their way to ports under blockade to touch at British
harbours, had at once created serious em-
barrassments with America. In the long
strife between France and England,
America had already borne much from
both combatants, but above all from
I^ritain. Not only had the English Govern-
ment exercised its right of search, but it
asserted a right of seizing English seamen
found in American vessels ; and as there
were few means of discriminating between English seamen and
American, the sailor of Maine or Massachusetts was often im-
pressed to serve in the British fleet. Galled however as was
America by outrages such as these, she was hindered from resenting
them by her strong disinclination to war, as well as b}- the profit
which she drew from the maintenance of her neutral position. But
the Orders in Council and the Milan decree forced her mU) action,
and she at once answered them by an embargo of trade with
Europe. .After a gear's trial, however, America found it inipo.ssiblc
to maintain the embargo; and at the opening of 1809 she exchanged
6 A 2
"/■\
LIVERPOOL HALFPENNV,
1793-
Sec. IV
Thk
W.\R WITH
Franck
1793
T(1
I815
England
and
America
1S07
i8i4
HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE
CHAP.
Sec. IV
The
War with
France
1793
10
1^5
1809
the embargo for an Act of Non-Intercourse with France and Eng-
land alone. But the Act wa.s equally ineffective. The American
Government was uttcrh' without means of enforcing it on its land
frontier ; and it had small means of enforcing it at sea. Vessels
sailed dail}' for British ports ; and at last the Non-Intercourse Act
was repealed altogether. All that America persisted in maintaining
was an offer that if either Power would repeal its edicts it would
prohibit American commerce with the other. Napoleon seized on
SAILOR, 1807.
Atkinson, "Costumes 0/ Great Britain.'
MIDSHIPMAN', 1799.
After T. n\ Ro-ulanJson.
May iSio this offer, and after promising to revoke his Berlin and IVIilan
Decrees he called on America to redeem her pledge. In February
181 1, therefore, the United States announced that all intercourse
with Great Britain and her dependencies was at an end. The effect
of this step was seen in a reduction of English exports during this
year by a third of their whole amount. It was in vain that Britain
pleaded that the Emperor's promises remained unfulfilled, and that
the enforcement of non-intercourse with England was thus an unjust
MODERN ENGLAND 1815
i79j
TO
1815
act, and an act of hostility. The pressure of the American poHcy, sec. iv
as well as news of the warlike temper which had at last grown up The
in the United States, made submission inevitable ; for the indus- France
trial state of England was now so critical that to expose it to fresh
shocks was to court the very ruin which Napoleon had planned.
During- the earlier years of the war, indeed, the increase of State of
wealth had been enormous. England was sole mistress of the
seas. The war gave her possession of the colonies of Spain, of
Holland, and of France ; and if her trade was checked for a time
by the Berlin Decree, the efforts of Napoleon were soon rendered
fruitless by the vast smuggling system which sprang up along the
southern coasts and the coast of North Germany. English exports
had nearly doubled since the opening of the century. Manufac-
tures profited by the discoveries of Watt and Arkwright; and the
consumption of raw cotton in the mills of Lancashire rose during
the same period from, fifty to a hundred millions of pounds. The
vast accumulation of capital, as well as the vast increase of the
population at this time, told upon the land, and forced agriculture
into a feverish and unhealthy prosperity. Wheat rose to famine
prices, and the value of land rose in proportion with the price of
wheat. Inclosures went on with prodigious rapidity; the income
of every landowner was doubled, while the farmers were able to
introduce improvements into the processes of agriculture which
changed the whole face of the country. But if the increase of
wealth was enormous, its distribution was partial. During the
fifteen years which preceded Waterloo, the number of the popula-
tion rose from ten to thirteen millions, and this rapid increase
kept down the rate of wages, which would naturall)- have advanced
in a corresponding degree with the increase in the national wealth.
Even manufactures, though destined in the long run to benefit the
labouring classes, seemed at first rather to depress them ; for one
of the earliest results of the introduction of machinery was the ruin
of a number of small trades which were carried on at home, and
the pauperization of families who relied on ihem for support, in
the winter of iSii the terrible pressure of this transition from
handicraft to machinery was seen in the Ludditc, or machine-
breaking, riots which broke out over the northern and midlaml
counties, and which were onl\- suppresscci by niilit.ir\' force.
While labour was thus thrown out of its older gro(n'cs, and the
i8i6
HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE
CHAP.
Sec. IV
The
War with
France
'793
I'U
ISI5
rate of wages kept down at an artificialK- low figure b\' the rapid
increase of population, the rise in the price of wheat, which brought
wealth to the landowner and the farmer, brought famine and death
to the poor, for England was cut off b}^ the war from the vast corn-
fields of the Continent or of America, which nowada)-s redress
from their abundance the results of a bad harvest. Scarcity w-as
followed b\' a terrible pauperization of the labouring classes. The
amount of the poor-rate rose fifty per cent. ; and with the increase
of poverty followed its inevitable result, the increase of crime.
Revival 'f^c natural relation of trade and commerce to the general
of . "^
Reform wealth of the people at large was thus disturbed by the peculiar
PROCESSION AND CHAIRING OF SIR F. BURDETT, JUNE 29, 1S07.
Contoiiporary J>rint in British Museum.
circumstances of the time. The war enriched the landowner, the
farmer, the merchant, the manufacturer ; but it impoverished the
poor. It is indeed from, these fatal years which lie between the
Peace of Luncville and Waterloo that we must date that war of
classes, that social severance between employers and employed,
which still forms the main difficulty of English politics. But it
is from these years too that we must date the renewal of that
progressive movement in politics which had been suspended since
the opening of the war. The publication of the EdinbiirgJi Rcvieio
in 1802 by a knot of young lawyers at Edinburgh marked a
revival of the policy of constitutional and administrative progress
which liad been reluctantly abandoned by William Pitt. Jeremy
xMODERN ENGLAND 1817
Bentham gave a new vigour to political speculation by his Sec. iv
advocacy of the doctrine of Utility, and his definition of " the . 'i'"E
^ \V AR WITH
greatest happiness of the greatest number " as the aim of political ^"kanck
I 70**
action. In 1809 Sir Francis Burdctt revived the question of to
181 ?
Parliamentary Reform. Only fifteen members supported his — :
motion ; and a reference to the House of Commons, in a pamphlet
which he subsequently published, as " a part of our fellow-subjects
collected together by means which it is not necessary to describe "
was met by his committal to the Tower, where he remained till
the prorogation of the Parliament. A far greater effect was
produced by the perseverance with which Canning pressed year
by year the question of Catholic Emancipation. So long as
Perceval lived both efforts at Reform were equally vain ; but on
the accession of Lord Liverpool to power the advancing strength
of a more liberal sentiment in the nation was felt by the policy of
"moderate concession " which was adopted by the new ministry.
Catholic Emancipation became an open question in the Cabinet
itself, and was adopted in 18 12 by a triumphant majority in the
Llouse of Commons, though still rejected b}- the Lords.
With social and political troubles thus awaking about them, War with
rr Ml- r 1 -11 America
even iory statesmen were not willmg to lace the terrible
consequences of a ruin of English industry, such as might follow
from the junction of America with Napoleon. They were, in fact,
preparing to withdraw the Orders in Council, when their plans
were arrested by the dissolution of the Perceval Ministr)-. Its
position had from the first been a weak one. A return of the
King's madness had made it necessary in the beginning of iSii
to confer the Regency by Act of Parliament on the Prince of
Wales ; and the Whig sj'mpathics of the Prince threatened the
Perceval Cabinet with dismissal. The insccurit\- of their position
told on the conduct of the war; for the aj^parcnl inaclivit\' of
Wellington during 181 1 was really due to the hesitation and
timidity of the ministers at home. In May 1812 the assa.ssination
of Perceval by a maniac named l^cllingliam brought about the
fall of his ministry ; and fresh efforts were made by the Regent to
install the Whigs in office. Mutual distruht, however, foiled his
attempts ; and the old ministry was restored under the headship '/'/ir
of Lfjrd Liverpool, a man of no great abilities, but teinpi-ratc, j//;;/J/^
well inffjrmed, and endowed with a remarkable skill in holding
i8i8 HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE
1793
TO
1815
Sec. IV discordant colleagues together. The most important of these
The colleagues was Lord Castlereagh, who became Secretary for
War with °
France Foreign Affairs. His first work was to meet the danger in which
Canning had involved the country by his Orders in Council. At
the opening of 18 12 America, in despair of redress, had resolved
on war ; Congress voted an increase of both army and navy, and
laid an embargo on all ves.sels in American harbours. Actual
hostilities might still have been averted by the repeal of the
Orders, on which the English Cabinet was resolved, but in the
confusion which followed the murder of Perceval the opportunity
was lost. On the 23rd of June, onl}' twelve days after the
ministr}- had been formed, the Orders were repealed ; but when
the news of the repeal reached America, it came six weeks too
late. On the 18th of June an Act of Congress had declared
America at war with Great Britain.
Sala- The moment when America entered into the great struggle
and ''"^'as a critical moment in the history of mankind. Six days after
Moscow President Madison issued his declaration of war. Napoleon crossed
the Niemcn on his march to Moscow. Successful as his policy
had been in stirring up w^ar between England and America, it had
been no less successful in breaking the alliance which he had made
with the Emperor Alexander at Tilsit and in forcing on a contest
with Russia. On the one hand, Napoleon was irritated by the
refusal of Russia to enforce strictly the suspension of all trade
with England, though such a suspension would have ruined the
Russian landowners. On the other, the Czar saw with growing
anxiety the advance of the French Empire which sprang from
Napoleon's resolve to enforce his system by a seizure of the
northern coasts. In 181 1 Holland, the Hanseatic towns, part of
Westphalia, and the Duchy of Oldenburg were successively
annexed, and the Duchy of Mecklenburg threatened with seizure.
A peremptory demand on the part of France for the entire cessa-
tion of intercourse with England brought the quarrel to a head ; and
preparations were made on both sides for a gigantic struggle. The
best of the French soldiers were drawn from Spain to the frontier
Welling- of Poland ; and Wellington, whose army had been raised to a force
'cA "' of fort\- thousand P2nglishmen and twenty thousand Portuguese,
profited b}- the withdrawal to throw off his system of defence and
to assume an attitude of attack. Ciudad Rodrigo and Badajoz
MODERN ENGLAND 1819
were taken b}' storm during the spring of 1812 ; and three days Sec. iv
tefore Napoleon crossed the Niemen in his march on Moscow „, '1""^
'^ War with
Wellington crossed the Agueda in a march on Salamanca. After France
1793
a series of masterly movements on both sides, Marmont with the to
French army of the north attacked the English on the hills in the —
neighbourhood of that town. While he was marching round the July zz
right of the English position, his left wing remained isolated ; and
with a sudden exclamation of " Marmont is lost ! " Wellington
flung on it the bulk of his force, crushed it, and drov^e the whole
army from the field. The loss on either side was nearly equal, but
failure had demoralized the French arm\' ; and its retreat forced
Joseph to leave Madrid, and Soult to evacuate Andalusia and
to concentrate the southern arm\' on the eastern coast. While
.MED.\L CO.M.ME.MORATING WELLINGTON'S E.\ I RV l.NTu .M.VlJRID.
Napoleon was still pushing slowly over the vast plains of Poland,
Wellington made his entr\- into Madrid in August, and began the
siege of Burgos. The town however held out gallantly for a
month, till the advance of the two French armies, now concen-
trated in the north and south of Spain, forced Wellington in
October to a hast}' retreat on the Portuguese frontier. If he had
shaken the rule of the French in Spain in this campaign, his ulti-
mate failure showed how firm a militar)' hold they still possessed
there, liut the disappointment was forgotten in the news which
followed it. At the moment when the English troops fell back Tin-
from liurgos began the retreat of the Grand Army from Moscow. ^]rom
Victorious in a battle at Rorodino, Napoleon had entered the older •'^"*'"'''''
•capital of Russia in triuini)h, and waiteti impatienli)- to receive
i82o HISTORY OF THE 1-:NGLISH PEOPLE chap.
1793
TO
181:;
Sec. IV proposals of peace from the Czar, when a fire kindled by its own
I'Hii inhabitants reduced the citv to ashes. The French armv was forced
War with ■' '
Kkanck |-q f^]i \)-^xzV aniitlst the horrors of a Russian winter. Of the four
huntlred thousand combatants who formed the Grand Army at its
first outset, only a {<^\\ thousand recrossed the Niemen in December.
Fall of In spite of the gigantic efforts which Napoleon made to repair
the loss of the Grand Army, the spell which he had cast over
Europe was broken by the retreat from Moscow. Prussia rose
against him as the Russians crossed the Niemen in the spring of
181 3 ; and the forces which held it were at once thrown back on
the Elbe. In this emergency the military genius of the French
Emperor rose to its height. With a fresh army of two hundred
thousand men whom he had gathered up at Mainz he marched on
the allied armies of Russia and Prussia in May, cleared Saxony by
a victory over them at Lutzen, and threw them back on the Oder
by a fresh victory at Bautzen. Disheartened by defeat, and by the
neutral attitude which Austria still preserved, the "iwo powers con-
sented in June to an armistice, and negotiated for peace. But
Austria, though unwilling to utterly ruin France to the profit of
her great rival in the East, was as resolute as either of the allies
to wa'cst from Napoleon his supremacy over Europe ; and at the
moment when it became clear that Napoleon was only bent on
playing with her proposals, she was stirred to action by news that
his army was at last driven from Spain. Wellington had left
Portugal in May with an army which had now risen to ninety
June 2\, thousand men ; and, overtaking the French forces in retreat at
^ Vitoria, he inflicted on them a defeat which drove them in utter
rout across the Pyrenees. Madrid was at once evacuated ; and
Clauzel fell back from Zaragoza into P^rance. The victory not only
freed Spain from its invaders ; it restored the spirit of the Allies.
The close of the armistice was followed by a union of Austria
with the forces of Prussia and the Czar ; and in October a final
overthrow of Napoleon at Leipzig forced the French army to fall
back in rout across the Rhine. The war now hurried to its close.
Though held at bay for a while by the sieges of San Sebastian and
Pampeluna, as well as by an obstinate defence of the Pyrenees,
Wellington succeeded in the very month of the triumph at Leipzig
in winning a victory on the Bidassoa, which enabled him to enter
MODERN ENGLAND 182 1
1793
ru
France. He was soon followed by the Allies. On the last day of Sec. iv
1813 their forces crossed the Rhine : and a third of France passed, Ihe
War with
without opposition, into their hands. For two months more fkance
Napoleon maintained a wonderful struggle with' a handful of raw
conscripts against their overwhelming numbers ; while in the south,
Soult, forced from his entrenched camp near Bayonne and defeated
at Orthes, fell back before Wellington on Toulouse. Here their
two armies met in April in a stubborn and indecisive engagement.
But though neither leader knew it, the war was even then at an
end. The struggle of Napoleon himself had ended at the close of
]\Iarch with the surrender of Paris ; and the submission of the
capital was at once followed by the abdication of the Emperor and
the return of the Bourbons.
England's triumph over its enemy was dashed b\- the more The
doubtful fortunes of the struggle across the Atlantic. The dcclara- '^'^^r^"
tion of vrar by Am^erica seemed an act of sheer madness ; for its
navy consisted of a few frigates and sloops ; its army was a mass
of half-drilled and half-armed recruits ; while the States themselves
were divided on the question of the war, and Connecticut with
Massachusetts refused to send either money or men. Three
attempts to penetrate into Canada during the summer and autumn
were repulsed with heavy loss. But these failures were more than
redeemed by unexpected successes at sea. In two successive en-
gagements between English and American frigates, the former
were forced to strike their flag. The effect of these victories was
out of all proportion to their real importance ; for they were the
first heavy blows which had been dealt at England's supremacy
over the seas. In 181 3 America followed up its naval triumphs by
more vigorous efforts on land. Its forces cleared Lake Ontario,
captured Toronto, destroyed the British flotilla on Lake lu-ic, and
made themselves masters of Upper Canada. An attack on Lower
Canada, however, was successfully beaten back ; and a fresh
advance of the British and Canadian forces in the heart of the
winter again recovered the Upper Province. The reverse gave
fresh strength to the party in the United States which had
throughout been opposed to the war, and whose opposition to it
had been embittered by the terrible di.strcss brought about l)\- the
blockade and the ruin of American ccjunnerce- Cries of secession
l822
HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE
CHAP.
Sec. IV
The
War with
Franck
1793
1815
began to be heard, and Massachusetts took the bold step of
appointing delegates to confer with delegates from the other New
England States " on the subject of their grievances and common
conccrn:>." In 1S14, however, the war was renewed with more
vigour than e\cr ; and Upper Canada was again invaded. But
the American arm}-, after inflicting a severe defeat on the British
forces in the battle of Chippewa in July, was itself defeated a few
weeks after in an equally stubborn engagement, and thrown back
on its own frontier ; while the fall of Napoleon enabled the
English Government to de-
vote its whole strength to
the struggle with an enemy
which it had ceased to de-
spise. General Ross, with a
force of four thousand men,
appeared in the Potomac,
captured Washington, and
before evacuating the city
burnt its public buildings
to the ground. Few more
shameful acts arc recorded
in our history ; and it was
the more shameful in that
it was done under strict
orders from the Govern-
ment at home. The raid
upon Washington, however,
was intended simply to strike terror into the American people ;
and the real stress of the war was thrown on two expeditions
whose business was to penetrate into the States from the north
and from the south. Both proved utter failures. A force of
nine thousand Peninsular veterans which marched in September
to the attack of Plattsburg on Lake Champlain was forced to
fall back by the defeat of the English flotilla which accom-
panied it. A second force under General Packcnham appeared
in December at the mouth of the Mississippi and attacked New
Orleans, but was repulsed by General Jackson with the loss of
half its numbers. Peace, however, had already been concluded.
MEDAL GIVEN BY ENGLAND TO INDIAN
CHIEFS IN THE AMERICAN WAR.
Tancred, ^^ Record of Medals"
MODERN ENGLAND i8:
1793
TO
IS15
The close of the French war, if it left untouched the grounds of the Sec. iv
struggle, made the United States sensible of the danger of pushino; the
^ ^ ^ War with
it further ; Britain herself was anxious for peace ; and the warring France
claims, both of England and America, were set aside in silence in
the treaty of 1814.
The close of the war with America freed England's hands at a Return
moment when the reappearance of Napoleon at Paris called her to Napoleon
a new and final struggle with France. By treaty with the Allied
Powers Napoleon had been suffered to retain a fragment of his
former empire — the island of Elba off the coast of Tuscany ; and
from Elba he had looked on at the quarrels which sprang up
between his conquerors as soon as they gathered at Vienna to
complete the settlement of Europe. The most formidable of these
quarrels arose from the claim of Prussia to annex Saxony, and
that of Russia to annex Poland ; but their union for this purpose
was met by a counter-league of England and Austria with their
old enemy France, whose ambassador, Talleyrand, laboured
vigorously to bring the contest to an issue by force of arms. At
the moment, however, when a war between the two leagues seemed
close at hand. Napoleon quitted Elba, landed on the coast near Mafch i,
Cannes, and, followed only by a thousand of his guards, marched
over the mountains of Dauphine upon Grenoble and L}-ons. He
counted, and counted justly, on the indifference of the country to
its new Bourbon rulers, on the longing of the army for a fresh
struggle which should restore its glory, and above all on the spell
of his name over soldiers whom he had so often led to victor)-.
In twenty days from his landing he reached the Tuilerics
unopposed, while Lewis the Eighteenth fled helplessly to Ghent.
But whatever hopes he had drawn from the divisions of the Allicti
Powers were at once dispelled by their resolute action on the news
of his descent upon France. Their strife was hushed and their old
union restored by the consciousness of a common danger. An
engagement to su[)i)ly a million of men for the puri)()scs of the
war, and a recall of their armies to the Rhine, answered Napoleon's
efforts to open negotiations with the Powers. England furnished
subsidies to the amount of eleven millions, and hastened to place
an army on the frontier of the Netherlands. The best troops ot
the force which had been employed in the Peninsula. howe\cr,
i824 HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE chap.
Sec. IV were still across the Atlantic ; and of the eighty thousand men
The who gathered round Wellington only about a half were English-
War with
Krance men, the rc.-^t principal!}' raw levies from l^elgium and Hanover.
to"' The Duke's plan was to unite with the one hundred and fifty
r thousand Prussians under Marshal Blucher who were advancing on
the Lower Rhine, and to enter France by Mons and Namur, while
the forces of Austria and Russia closed in upon Paris by way of
Bel fort and P^lsass.
Waterloo -^^^^ Napoleon had thrown aside all thought of a merely
dcfensi\-e war. B\' amazing efforts he had raised an army of two
hundred and fifty thousand men in the few months since his
1S15 arrival in Paris ; and in the opening of June one hundred and
twenty thousand Frenchmen were concentrated on the Sambre at
Charleroi, while Wellington's troops still lay in cantonments on
the line of the Scheldt from Ath to Nivelle, and Blucher's on that
of the Meuse from Nivelle to Liege. Both the allied armies
hastened to unite at Ouatre Bras ; but their junction was already
impossible. Blucher with eighty thousand men was himself
attacked by Napoleon at Ligny, and after a desperate contest
Juucie driven back with terrible loss upon Wavre. On the same day
Ney with twenty thousand men, and an equal force under D'Erlon
in reserve, appeared before Ouatre Bras, where as }'et onl}^ ten
thousand English and the same force of Belgian troops had been
able to assemble. The Belgians broke before the charges of the
French horse ; but the dogged resistance of the English infantry
gave time for Wellington to bring up corps after corps, till at the
close of the day Ney saw himself heavily outnumbered, and
withdrew baffled from the field. About five thousand men had
fallen on either side in this fierce engagement : but heavy as was
Wellington's loss, the firmness of the English army had already
done much to foil Napoleon's effort at breaking through the line
of the Allies. Blucher's retreat, however, left the English flank
uncovered ; and on the following day, while the Prussians were
falling back on Wavre, Wellington with nearly seventy thousand
men — for his army was now well in hand — withdrew in good order
upon Waterloo, followed by the mass of the French forces under
the Emperor himself. Napoleon had detached ^Marshal Grouchy
Avith thirt}' thousand men to hang upon the rear of the beaten
MODERN ENGLAND
Prussians, while with a force of eighty thousand he resolved to
bring Wellington to battle. On the morning of the i8th of June
the two armies faced one another on the field of Waterloo, in
front of the Forest of Soignies, on the high road to Brussels.
Napoleon's one fear had been that of a continued retreat. " I have
them ! " he cried, as he saw the English line drawn up on a low
rise of ground which stretched across the liich road from the
1S25
Sec. IV
The
War with
FKANXt:
1793
TO
I815
^^^■^rxCi.- .-*,•
HOUGOMONT.
After J. M. Vy. Turner.
chateau of Hougomont on its right to the farm and straggling
village of La Haye Sainte on its left. lie had some grounds for
his confidence of success. On either side the forces numbered
between .seventy and eighty thousand men ; but the I-'rench were
superior in guns and cavalry, and a large part of Wellington's
force consisted of Belgian levies, who broke and net! at the outset
of the fight. A fierce attack ujion Ilougomont ()])cnc(l ihc h.itllo
at eleven; but it was not till midda)' that the corps of h'l'.iion
1793
i8i5
1826 HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE char
Sec. IV advanced upon the centre near La Have Sainte, which from that
The time bore the main brunt of the struG^Gic. Never has f^reater
War with ^^ =^
France couragc, whcthcr of attack or endurance, been shown on any field
than was shown by both combatants at Waterloo, The columns
of D'Erlon, repulsed by the English foot, were hurled back in
disorder by a charge of the Scots Greys ; but the victorious
horsemen were crushed in their turn by the French cuirassiers,
and the mass of the French cavalry, twelve thousand strong, flung
itself in charge after charge on the English front, carrying the
English guns and sweeping with desperate bravery round the
unbroken squares whose fire thinned their ranks. With almost
equal bravery the French columns of the centre again advanced^
wrested at last the farm of La Hayc Sainte from their opponents,
and pushed on vigorously though in vain under Ncy against the
troops in its rear. But meanwhile every hour was telling against
Napoleon. To win the battle he must crush the English army
before Blucher joined it ; and the English army was still un-
crushed. Terrible as was his loss, and many of his regiments
were reduced to a mere handful of men, Wellington stubbornly
held his ground while the Prussians, advancing from W'avre
through deep and miry forest roads, were slowly gathering to his
support, disregarding the attack on their rear by which Grouchy
strove to hold them back from the field. At half-past four their
advanced guard deployed at last from the woods ; but the main
body was far behind, and Napoleon was still able to hold his
ground against them till their increasing masses forced him to
stake all on a desperate effort against the English front. The
Imperial Guard — his only reserve, and which had as )'et taken
no part in the battle — was drawn up at seven in two huge columns
of attack. The first, with Ney himself at its head, swept all before
it as it mounted the rise beside La Haye Sainte, on which the thin
English line still held its ground, and all but touched the English
front when its mass, torn by the terrible fire of musketry with
which it was received, gave way before a charge. The second,
three thousand strong, advanced with the same courage over the
slope near Hougomont, only to be repulsed and shattered in its
turn. At the moment when these masses fell slowly and doggedly
back down the fatal rise, the Prussians pushed forward on
MODERN ENGLAND
1S27
Napoleon's right, their guns swept the road to Charleroi, and
Wellington seized the moment for a general advance. From that
hour all was lost. Only the Guard stood firm in the wreck of the
French army ; and though darkness and exhaustion checked the
English in their pursuit of the broken troops as they hurried from
the field, the Prussian horse continued the chase through the night.
Only forty thousand Frenchmen with some thirty guns recrossed
the Sambre, while Napoleon himself fled hurriedly to Paris. His
second abdication was followed by the triumphant entry of the
English and Prussian armies into the French capital ; and the
long war ended with his exile to St. Helena, and the return of
Lewis the Eighteenth to the throne of the Bourbons.
Sec. IV
The
War with
Franxe
1793
TO
1815
THE " Bi: LLEkOI'HO.N " (sllll' WHICH (AKKIKD .NAl'ULKO.N TO ST. IIICI.ICNA).
After J. M. 11: I nrncr.
Vol. IV— I'AKT 39 ^' ''
CHAP. X
MODERN ENGLAND
1829
THE HAT-FIXISHliRS IN COMBINATION, 182O.
Flint in Place MSS., Bfitisk Mnsctim.
EPILOGUE.
1873
With the victory of Waterloo we reach a time within the EnLociE
memory of some now Hving, and the opening of a period of our 1815
history, the greatest indeed of all in real importance and interest,
but perhaps too near to us as yet to admit of a cool and purel}-
historical treatment. In a work such as the present at an\' rate it
will be advisable to limit ourselves from this point to a brief
summary of the more noteworthy events which have occurred in
our political histor)' since 1815.
The peace which closed llie great war with Napoleon left
liritain feverish and exhausted. Of her conquests at sea she
retained only Malta rwho.se former pos.sessors, the Knights of St.
John, had cca.sed to exist), the Dutch colonics of Ceylon and the
Cape of Good Hope, the l^rcnch Colony of Mauritius, and a feu-
West India islands. On the other hand, the pressure of the hcav\'
taxation and of the debt, which now reached ^'i-lit hundred
millions, was embitteretl b\' the general distress of the eountr)-.
o li J
The
Peace
CHAP. X MODERN ENGLAND 183 1
The rapid development of English industry for a time ran ahead EnLocuE
of the world's demands ; the markets at home and abroad were 1815
TO
glutted with unsaleable goods, and mills and manufactories were 1873
brought to a standstill. The scarcity caused by a series of bad
harvests was intensified b)- the selfish legislation of the landowners
in Parliament. Conscious that the prosperity of English agricul-
ture was merely factitious, and rested on the high price of corn
produced by the war, they prohibited by an Act pa.ssed in 181 5
the introduction of foreign corn till wheat had reached famine
prices. Societ}', too, was disturbed by the great changes of em-
plo}'ment consequent on a sudden return to peace after twenty
years of war, and b}- the disbanding of the immense forces
employed at sea and on land. The movement against machinery
which had been put down in 181 2 revived in formidable riots, and
the distress of the rural poor brought about a rapid increase of
crime. The steady opposition too of the Administration, in which
Lord Castlereagh's influence was now supreme, to any project of
political progress created a dangerous irritation which brought
to the front men whose demand of a " radical reform " in English
institutions won them the name of Radicals, and drove more
violent agitators into treasonable disaffection and silly plots. In
1 8 19 the breaking up b\' military force of a meeting at
Manchester, assembled for the purpose of advocating a reform in
Parliament, increased the unpopularity of the Government ; and a
plot of some desperate men with Arthur Thistlcwood at their '^20
head for the assassination of the whole Ministry, which is known
as the Cato Street Conspiracy, threw light on the violent temper
which was springing up among its more extreme opponent?;. The
death of George the Third in 1820, and the accession of his son
the Prince Regent as George the P^ourth, onl}- added to the general
disturbance of men's minds. The ne\v' King had long since for-
saken his wife and privately charged her with infidelity ; his first
act on mounting the throne was to renew his accusations against
her, and to lay befijre Parliament a bill for the dissoliitioii nf lu'r
marriage with him. The public agitation which followed on this
step at last forced the Ministry to abandon the bill, but the shame
of the royal family and the unpopularity of the King increased
the sfencral discontent of the countrs'.
IS3:
HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE
CHAP.
Epilogue
1815
TO
IS73
Canninsr
1S20
The real danger to public order, however, lay only in the
blind opposition to all political change which confused wise and
moderate projects of reform with projects of revolution ; and in
1822 the suicide of Lord Castlereagh, who had now become
Marquis of Londonderry, and to whom this opposition was mainly
due, put an end to the policy of mere resistance. Canning
became Foreign Secretary in Castlereagh's place, and with
Canning returned the earlier and progressive policy of William
Pitt. Abroad, his first act was to break with the " Holy Alliance,"
as it called itself, which the continental courts had formed after
the overthrow of Napoleon for the repression of revolutionary or
liberal movements in their kingdoms, and whose despotic policy
had driven Naples, Spain, and Portugal into revolt. Canning
asserted the principle of non-interference in the internal affairs of
foreign states, a principle he enforced by sending troops in 1826 to
defend Portugal from Spanish intervention, while he recognized
the revolted colonies of Spain in South America and Mexico as
independent states. At home his influence was seen in the new
strength gained b}- the question of Catholic P!mancipation, and in
the passing of a bill for giving relief to Roman Catholics through
the House of Commons in 1825. With the entry of his friend Mr.
Huskisson into office in 1823 began a commercial policy which
was founded on a conviction of the benefits derived from freedom
of trade, and which brought about at a later time the repeal of the
Corn Laws. The new drift of public policy produced a division
among the Ministers which showed itself openly at Lord Liverpool's
death in 1827. Canning became First Lord of the Treasur\-, but
the Duke of Wellington, Avith the Chancellor, Lord Eldon, and the
Home Secretary, Mr. Peel, refused to serve under him ; and four
months after the formation of Canning's ?*Iinistry it was broken up
by his death. A temporar}- [Ministry formed under Lord Goderich
on Canning's principles was at once weakened by the position of
foreign affairs. A revolt of the Greeks against Turke\' had now-
lasted some }'ears, in spite of Canning's efforts to bring about
peace, and the despatch of an Egyptian expedition with orders to
devastate the Morea and carry off its inhabitants as slaves forced
England, France, and Russia to interfere. In 1827 their united
fleet under Admiral Codringrton attacked and destro\-cd that of
MODERN ENGLAND
1S33
Egypt in the bay of Navarino ; but the blow at Turkey was Epilogue
disapproved by English opinion, and the Ministry, already wanting 1S15
in Parliamentary strength, was driven to resign. 1873
The formation of a purely Tory IMinistr}- by the Duke of Reform
Wellington, with Mr. Peel for its principal support in the
D A .N I K I, O C 1 1 N N i: I. I-
Miniature t'y M ulrcnin.
REPEAL BUTTON.
REPEAL IIUTTOX.
Commons, was generally looked on as a promise of utter resistance
to all further progress, l^ut the state of Ireland, where a " Catholic
Association" formed b>' Daniel O'Conncll maintained a L;r<)\ving
agitation, had now reached a point wjicn tin- l'Jii;h'^h Miiiistr\' had
to choose between concessions and ci\il war. The l)ukr L;ave wa)',
CHAP. X MODERN ENGLAND 1S35
and brought in a bill which, like that designed by Pitt, admitted epilogif.
Roman Catholics to Parliament, and to all but a few of the highest 1815
posts, civil or military, in the service of the Crown. The passing 1S73
of this bill b\' the aid of the Whigs threw the Tory party into 1829
confusion ; while the cry for Parliamentar}- Reform was suddenly
revived with a strength it had never known before by a Revolution 1830
in P^rancc, which drove Charles the Tenth from the throne and
called his cousin, Louis Philippe, the Duke of Orleans, to reign as
a Constitutional King. William the Fourth, who succeeded to the
crown on the death of his brother, George the Fourth, at this
moment was favourable to the demand of Reform, but Wellington
refused all concession. The refusal drove him from office ; and for
the first time after twenty years the Whigs saw themselves again
in power under the leadership of Earl Grey. A bill for Parlia-
mentary Reform, which took away the right of representation from
fifty-six decayed or rotten boroughs, gave the 143 members it
gained to counties or large towns which as yet sent no members
to Parliament, established a ^10 householder qualification for
voters in boroughs, and extended the county franchise to lease-
holders and copyholders, was laid before Parliament in 1831. On
its defeat the Ministry appealed to the country. The new House
of Commons at once passed the bill, and so terrible was the
agitation produced by its rejection b\- the Lords, that on its
subsequent reintroduction the Peers who opposed it withdrew and juue i,
suffered it to become law. The Reformed Parliament which met ^~
in 1833 did much by the violence and inexperience of man}' of its
new members, and especiall)' by the conduct of O'Connell, to
produce a feeling of reaction in the country. On the resignation
of Lord Gre\' in 1834 the Ministry was reconstituted under the
leadership of X'iscount Melbourne ; and though this administration
was soon dismissed by the King, whose sympathies had now veered Xov. 1834
round to the Tories, and succeeded for a short time by a Ministry
under Sir Robert Peel, a general election again returned a Whig
Parliament, and replaced Lord Melbourne in office. Weakened , )/>/•// 1S35
as it was by the growing change of political feeling throughout the
countr)', no ]\Tinistr\' has ever wrought greater and more beneficial
changes than tb.e Whig Ministry under Loni (ii-e\- and Lord
Melbourne during its ten wars of nilc In 1833 the s\-stc!n of
1836
HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE
CHAP.
Epilogue slavery which Still cxistcd in the British
1815 colonies, though the Slave Trade was sup-
1873 pressed, was abolished at a cost of twenty
millions; the commercial monopoly of the
East India Company was abolished, and
the trade to the East thrown open to all
1831-1S41 merchants. In 1834 the growing evil of
pauperism was checked by the enactment
of a New Poor Law. In 1835 the Muni
cipal Corporations Act restored to the
inhabitants of towns those rights of self-
government of which they had been de-
prived since the fourteenth century. 1836
saw the passing of the General Registra-
tion Act, while the constant quarrels over
tithe were remedied by the Act for Tithe
Commutation, and one of the grievances
of Dissenters redressed by a measure ,
which allowed civil marriage, A system
of national education, begun in 1834 b\-
a small annual grant towards the erec-
tion of schools, was developed in 1839
by the creation of a Committee of the
STAFFORDSHIRE COLLIERS.
Penny Magazine, 1836.
MANCHESTER OPERATIVE.
Illustrated London News, 1842.
Privy Council for edu-
cational pur-
poses and by the
steady increase
of educational
grants.
Great how-
ever as these
measures were,
the difficulties of
the Whig Minis-
try grew stead-
ily year by year.
Ireland, where
O'Connell main-
tained an inces-
MODERN ENGLAND
1S37
sant agitation for the Repeal of the Union, could only be held ep.logc
down by Coercion Acts. In spite of the impulse given to trade isTs
TO
Peel
T}IE "KUCKEl," 1829.
b\- the system of steam communication which began with the
opening of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway in 1830. the
"GKKAIEK BKIIAIN, ' iSyj.
country still suffered from distress : and the discontent of the
poorer classes gave rise in i<S39 to riotous demands for " tiic
People's ("barter," inchiding universal suffrage, \ote by b.dlot.
1 8 -.8
HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE
CHAP.
Epilogue
1S15
Tt)
1873
TURKISH Ml-.UAl, J(iR BOM-
BARDMENT OK ACRE, 1840.
annual Parliaments, equal electoral districts, the abolition of all
property qualification for members, and pa}-ment for their services.
In Canada a quarrel between the two districts of Upper and
Lower Canada was suffered through mismanagement to grow
into a formidable revolt. The vigorous but
meddlesome way in which Lord Palmer-
ston, a disciple of Canning, carried out
that statesman's foreign polic)-, supporting
Donna Maria as sovereign in Portugal and
Isabella as Queen in Spain against claim-
ants of more absolutist tendencies by a
Quadruple Alliance with h^rancc and the
two countries of the Peninsula, and forcing
IMehemet Ali, the Pacha of Egypt, to
withdraw from an attack on Turkey by the bombardment of Acre
in 1840, created general uneasiness; while the public conscience
was wounded by a war with China in 1839 on its refusal to allow
the smuggling of opium into its dominions. A more terrible blow
was given to the
Ministry by events in
India ; where the oc-
cupation of Cabul in
1839 ended two years
later in a general re-
volt of the Affghans
and in the loss of a
British army in the
Khyber Pass. The
strength of the Go-
vernment was re-
stored for a time by
the death of William
the Fourtli in 1837
and the accession of \'ictoria, the daughter of his brother
Edward, Duke of Kent. With the accession of Queen Victoria
ended the union of England and Hanover under the same
sovereigns, the latter state passing to the next male heir, Ernest,
Duke of Cumberland. Put the Whig hold on the House of
CHINESE SKETCH OF ENGLISH SAILOR IN WAR
OK 1839.
Illustrated London Xcws, 1857.
MODERN ENGLAND
Commons passed steadily away, and a general election in 1841
gave their opponents, who now took the name of Conservatives, a
majority of ncarl\- a hundred members. The general confidence
in Sir Robert Peel, who was placed at the head of the Ministr>-
which followed that of Lord :\Ielbournc. enabled him to deal
^^39
Epilogue
1S15
TO
18
/i
VISCOUNT MELBOURNK.
Picture by Sir T. Lawrtnce.
vigorously with two of the difficulties which had most hampcrcil
his predecessors. The disorder of the public finances was repaired
by the repeal of a host of oppressive and useless duties and by the
imposition of an Income Tax. In Irelaml O'Conncll was charged
with .sedition and convicted, and though subsequently released
from prison on appeal to the Ilou.sc of Lords, his inlhiencc
1840
IIISIOKV OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE
CHAP.
Ei-iLOGiE received a shock from which it never recovered. Peace was made
1815 with China h\' a treaty which threw open some of its ports to
1873 traders of all nations ; in India the disaster of Cabul was avenged
b\- an expedition under General Pollock which penetrated
GREAT SEAL OF QUEEN VICTORIA.
(Obverse.)
victoriously to the capital of that country in 1842, and the province
1S45-1S46 of Scinde was annexed to the British dominions. The shock,
however, to the English power brought about fresh struggles for
suprcmac}' with the natives, and especially with the Sikhs, who
MODERN ENGLAND
1S41
were crushed for the time in three great battles at Moodkee, Emlogie
Ferozeshah, and Sobraon. 1815
Successful as it proved itself abroad, the Conservative Govern- 1873
ment encounted unexpected difficulties at home. From the Free-
Trade
GREAT SEAL OF QUKF.N VICTOKIA.
(kcvcrsi;.)
enactment of the Corn Laws in 1S15 a dispute had conslantl)-
gone on between those who advocated these and similar measures
as a protection to nali\c indusli)- and those who, vicwini; tlu-ni as
sim[)lv Ia)-ing a tax on the c(;n^umcr lor the Ijcnefil of tin- pro-
i842 HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE chap.
EiiLOGLE duccr, claimed entire freedom of trade with the world. In 1839 an
1815 Anti-Corn- Law Lca<juc had been formed to enforce the views of the
TO
1S73 advocates of free trade ; and it was in great measure the alarm of
the farmers and landowners at its action which had induced them
SIR KOBERT PEEL.
Picture by John Linncll, in National Portrait Gallery.
to give so vigorous a support to Sir Robert Peel. But though Peel
entered office pledged to protective measures, his own mind was
slowly veering round to a conviction of their inexpediency ; and
in 1846 the failure of the potato crop in Ireland and of the harvest
IMODERX ENGLAND 1843
in England forced him to introduce a bill for the repeal of the Epilogle
Corn Laws. The bill passed, but the resentment of his own party isTs
soon drove him from office ; and he was succeeded b>- a Whig 1873
Ministry under Lord John Russell, which remained in power till
1852. The first work of this Ministry was to carry out the policy
of free trade into every department of British commerce ; and from
•SSELL.
Bust by John J-raitcis, in Aalional J'ortrtiit Gallery.
that time to this the maxim of the League, to " bu\- in the cheapest
market and sell in the dearest," has been accepted as the law of our
commercial policy. Other events were few. Tlic general over
throw of the continental monarchs in the Re\olution of i84<S found
faint echoes in a feeble rising in Ireland under Smith O'Hrien
which was easily sui)pressed b\- a few policcinen. and in a dcnion-
stration of the Chartists in Lontlon which jjasscd off without
Vol. IV— I'AKi 40 (' <
1 844
HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE
CHAP.
Epilogue
1815
TO
1873
Russian
and
Sepoy
Wars
further disturbance. A fresh war with the Sikhs in 1848 was closed
by the victory of Goojerat and the annexation of the Punjaub in
the following \'car.
The long peace which had been maintained between the
European powers since the treaties of 1815 was now drawing to a
close. In 1852 the Ministry of Lord John Russell was displaced
by a short return of the Conservatives to power under Lord Derby ;
but a union of the Whigs with the Free Trade followers of Sir
Robert Peel restored them to office at the close of the year.
Lord Aberdeen, the head of the new administration, was at once
compelled to resist the attempts of Russia to force on Turkey a
humiliating treaty; and in 1854 Eng-
land allied herself with Louis Napoleon,
who had declared himself Emperor of
the I'rcnch, to resist the invasion of
the Danubian Principalities by a
Russian army. The army was with-
drawn ; but in September the allied
force landed on the shores of the
Crimea, and after a victory at the river
Alma undertook the siege of Sebasto-
pol. The garrison however soon proved
as strong as the besiegers, and as fresh
Russian forces reached the Crimea the
Allies found themselves besieged in
their turn. An attack on the English
position at Inkerman on November the
5th was repulsed with the aid of a French division ; but winter
proved more terrible than the Russian sword, and the English
force wasted away with cold or disease. The public indignation
at its sufferings forced the Aberdeen Ministry from office in the
opening of 1855 ; and Lord Palmerston became Premier with a
Ministry which included those members of the last administration
who were held to be most in earnest in the prosecution of the
war. After a siege of nearly a year the Allies at last became
masters of Sebastopol in September, and Russia, spent with the
strife, consented in 1856 to the Peace of Paris. The military
reputation of England had fallen low during the struggle, and
TURKISH MF.DAL FOR DEFENCE
OF SILISTRIA.
Tancred, '' Record of Medals."
MODERN ENGLAND
1S45
SILVER COI.\ OF EAST INDIA COMPANY, 1 675.
to this cause the mutiny of the native troops in Bengal, which
quickly followed in 1857, may partly be attributed. Russian
intrigues, Moslem fanaticism, resentment at the annexation of the
kingdom of Oudh by Lord Dalhousie, and a fanatical belief on
the part of the Hindoos that the English Government had resolved
to make them Christians by forcing them to lose their caste, have
all been assigned as causes of an outbreak which still remains
mysterious. A mutiny at Aleerut in May was followed b\- the
seizure of Delhi, where the native king was enthroned as Emperor
of Hindostan, by a fresh mutiny and massacre of the Europeans
at Cawnpore, by the rising of Oudh and the siege of the Residency
at Lucknow. The num-
ber of English troops in
hidia was small, and for
the moment all Eastern
and Central Hindostan
seemed lost; but Madras,
Bomba}-, and the Punjaub
remained untouched, and
the English in Bengal and Oudh not only held their ground but
marched upon Delhi, and in September took the town by storm.
Two months later the arrival of reinforce-
ments under Sir Colin Campbell relieved
Lucknow, which had been saved till now by
the heroic advance of Sir Henry Havelock
with a handful of troops, and cleared Oudh of
the mutineers. The suppression of the revolt
was followed by a change in the government
of India, which was transferred in 185S from
the Company to the Crown ; the Queen being
formally proclaimed its sovereign, and the Governor-General
becoming her Viccro)-.
The credit which Lord Palmerston won during the struggle
with Russia and the Sepoys was shaken by his conduct in pro-
posing an alteration in the law respecting conspiracies in 185S, in
consequence of an attempt to assassinate Napoleon the Third
which was believed to have originated on ICnglish grcjunil. The
violent language of the I-'rcnch arm\' brought about a movement
RUPEE OV BIIURT-
POOR, 1858.
1815
TO
1873
Lord Pal-
merston
1846
HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE
CHAP.
Epilogue
1815
TO
for the enlistment of a \'^oluntcer force, which soon reached a
hundred and fift\' thousand men ; and so great was the irritation
it caused that the bill, which was thought to have been introduced
in deference to the demands of France, was rejected by the House
of Commons. Lord Derby again became Prime Minister for a
few months: but a fresh election in 1859 brought back Lord
Falmerston, whose IMinistr)- lasted till his death in 1865. iVt home
O
VISCOUNT PALMERSTON.
Ftoii! ail engraving by Joseph Brown of a J>hotograpIi. by John Watkins.
his poHcy was one of pure inaction ; and his whole energy was
directed to the preservation of English neutrality in five great
strifes which distracted not only Europe but the New World — a
war between France and Austria in 1859 which ended in the
creation of the kingdom of Italy, a civil war in America which
began with the secession of the Southern States in 1861 and ended
four years later in their subjugation, an insurrection of Poland in
X MODERN ENGLAND 1847
1863, an attack of France upon Mexico, and of Austria and Epilogue
Prussia upon Denmark in 1864. The American war, by its inter- 1815
TO
ference with the supply of cotton, reduced Lancashire to distress ; 1873
while the fitting out of piratical cruisers in English harbours in the
name of the Southern Confederation gave America just grounds
for an irritation which was only allayed at a far later time. Peace,
however, was successfully preserved ; and the policy of non-
intervention was pursued after Lord Palmerston's death by his
successor. Lord Russell, who remained neutral during the brief
but decisive conflict between Prussia and Austria in 1866 which
transferred to the former the headship of Germany.
With Lord Palmerston, however, passed away the policy of The
political inaction which distinguished his rule. Lord Russell had formers'
long striven to bring about a further reform of Parliament ; and in
1866 he laid a bill for that purpose before the House of Commons,
whose rejection was followed by the resignation of the Ministry.
Lord Derby, who again became Prime Minister, with Mr, Disraeli
as leader of the House of Commons, found himself however driven
to introduce in 1867 a Reform Bill of a far more sweeping character
than that which had failed in Lord Russell's hands. By this
measure, which passed in August, the borough franchise was
extended to all ratepayers, as well as to lodgers occupying rooms
of the annual value of ^10 ; the county franchise was fixed at £12,
thirty-three members were withdrawn from English boroughs,
twenty-five of whom were transferred to English counties, and the
rest assigned to Scotland and Ireland. Large numbers of the 1867
working classes were thus added to the constituencies ; and the
indirect effect of this great measure was at once seen in the
vigorous policy of the Parliament which assembled after the new
elections in 1868. Mr. Disraeli, who had become Prime Minister
on the withdrawal of Lord Derby, retired quietly on finding that a
Liberal majority of over one hundred members had been returned
to the House of Commons ; and his place was taken by Mr.
Gladstone, at the head of a Ministry which for the first time
included every section of the Liberal party. A succession of great
measures proved the strength and energy of the new administration.
Its first work was with Ireland, whose chronic discontent it en-
deavoured to remove b)' the disestablishment and disenclowmcnt
184S HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE chap.
Epilogie of the Protestant Church in 1869, and by a Land Bill which estab-
1815 lished a sort of tenant-right in every part of the country in 1870.
1873 The claims of the Nonconformists were met in 1868 by the
abolition of compulsory church-rates, and in 1871 b}- the abolition
PiENJAMIX DISRAELI, EARL OF BEACONSFIELD.
Bust by Sir E. J. Boehiii.
of all religious tests for admission to offices or degrees in the
L'niversities. Important reforms were undertaken in the manage-
ment of the navy ; and a plan for the entire reorganization of the
army was carried into effect after the system of promotion to its
command by purchase had been put an end to. In 1870 theques-
MODERN ENGLAND
1849
tion of national education was furthered by a bill which provided epilogue
for the establishment of School Boards in every district, and for 1815
their support by means of local rates. In 1872 a fresh step in 1873
Parliamentary reform was made by the passing of a measure which
THE RIGHT HON. W. E. GLAH^l'M
Engraved by W. Biscotnbc Gardner from a J>liolo^>'a/>/i by S. A H'n/ki
enabled the votes of electors to be given in secret by means of the
ballot. The greatness and rapidity of these changes, however,
produced so rapid a reaction in the minds of the constituencies
1850
HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE
CHAP. X
epilogie that on the failure of his attempt to pass a bill for organizing the
1815 higher education of Ireland, Mr. Gladstone felt himself forced
TO
1873 in 1874 to consult public opinion by a dissolution of Parliament ;
and the return of a Conservative majority of nearly .seventy
members was necessarily followed by his retirement from office,
Mr. Disraeli again becoming First Minister of the Crown.
^
I. England.
2. Scotland.
Gklat Ckitain.
4. Ireland.
5. Great Britain
AND Ireland.
THE UNIO.\ FLAG.
CHRONOLOGICAL ANNALS
ENGLISH HISTORY
CHRONOLOGICAL ANNALS
OF
ENGLISH HISTORY
THE ENGLISH KINGDOMS
449— 1016
449 Enerlish land in Britain. I 664
457 Kent conquered by English.
477 Landing of South Saxons. 668
491 Siege of Anderida.
495 Landing of West Saxons. 670
519 Cerdic and Cynric, Kings of West
Saxons. j 675
520 British victory at Mount Badon. ' 681
547 Ida founds l':ingdom of Bernicia. , 682
552 West Saxons take Old Sarum. i
560 .ffithelberht, King of Kent, died 6i6. | 685
568 driven back by West Saxons. (
571 West Saxons march into Mid-Britain. 688
577 conquer at Deorham. 715
584 • defeated at Faddiley.
588 .ffitlielric creates Kingdom of North- 716
umbria. 733
593 .ffithelfrith, King of Northumbria, 735
died 617. 753
597 Augustine converts Kent. 754
603 Battle of Dajgsastan.
613 liattle of Chester. 756
617 Eadivine, King of Northumbria, died 758
633- 775
626 overlord of Britain. 779
Penda, Kingof the Mercians, died 655. 786
627 Ladwine becomes Christian.
633 — slain at Hatfield. 787
635 Os'veald, King of Bernicia, died 642.
— defeats Welsh at Hevenfeld. 796
Aldan settles at Holy Island. 802
Conversion of Wessex.
642 ' )s\vald slain at Maserfeld. 803
651 Oswriu, Kingof .\orthumbria, diedGyo.
655 victory at Winwied. 808
658 Wc-.t Saxons conquerasfarasthe I'arret.
659 "Wulfhere, King in Mercia. 815
661 drivc-j West Saxons over 'J'Ikiuics,
Council of W^hitby.
Cadmon at Whitby.
Theodore made Archbishop of Canter-
bury.
Ecgfrith, King of Northumbria, died
685.
.Slthelred, King of Mercia, died 704
Wilfred converts South Saxons.
Centwine of Wessex conquers Mid-
Somerset.
Ecgfrith defeated and slain at Nectans-
mere.
Ine, King of West Saxons, died 726.
defeats Ceolred of Mercia at Wan-
borough.
.a:thelbald, King of Mercia, died 757.
Mercian conquest of Wessex.
Death of Bdda.
Death of Boniface.
Wessex recovers freedom in battle of
Burford.
Eadbcrht of Northumbria takes Alcluyd.
Offa, King of Mercia, died 796.
— subdues Kentish men at Otford.
defeats West Saxons at Bcnsington.
— ■ places Beorhtric on throne of
Wessex.
— — creates Archbishopric at Lichfield.
First landing of Danes in England.
Cenwnlf, King of Mercia, died 82 1.
EcRberht becomes King in Wessex,
died S59.
(Vinvulf suppresses Archbishopric of
Lichfield.
Charles the Creat restores Eardwulf in
Northumbria.
Ecgberht siil)ducb the West Welsh to
the Taiiiar.
1^54
CHRONOLOGICAL ANNALS
821
825
827
828
837
839
8A9
851
853
855
857
860
866
867
868
870
871
874
876
877
878
883
886
893
894
Civil war in Mercia. 895
1 .cgberht defeats Mercians at Eliamlim. 896
— overlord of England south of 897
Thames.
Revolt of East Anglia against Mercia. 901
1 )efeat of Mercians hy East Anglians. 912
Mercia and \orthunibria submit to 913 1
Ecgberht. 918/
Ecgberht overlord of all English king- 921
donis.
invades Wales. , 924-
defeats Danes at Hengestesdun. |
^thelwulf, KingofWessex, died 85S. I 925
AAUxd l.oi-n. 926
1 )anes defeated at Aclea. | 934
.Elfrcd sent to Rome. ; 937
.l-"thelwulf goes to Rome. 940
.ffithelbald, KingofWessex, died 860. 943
.fflthelberht, King of Wessex, died 945
St)().
.ffithelred, King of Wessex, died 871. 946
I )ancs conquer Xorthumbria. ' 954
Peace of Nottingham with Danes. 955
Danes conquer and settle in East | 956
Anglia. j 957
Danes invade Wessex. | 958
.ffilfred, King of Wessex, died 901. 959
I )anes conquer Mercia. 975
I )anes settle in Xorthumbria. 978
.i:ifred defeats Danes at Exeter. 987
Danes overrun Wessex. 1040
.Elfred victor at Edington. 994
Peace of Wedmore. 1002
.Elfred sends envoys to Rome and 1003
India. 1012
.•l'21fred takes and refortifies I,ondon. 1013
Danes reappear in Thames and Kent.
-Elfred drives Hasting from Wessex. 1016
Masting invades Mercia.
.Elfred drives Danes from Essex.
I lasting quits England.
.Elfred creates a tleel.
£adward the Elder, died 925.
Xorlhnien settle in Xormandy.
. Ethel fltcd conquers Danish Mercia.
Eadward subdues East Anglia and
Essex.
owned as overlord by Xorthumbria,
Scots, and Straihclyde.
.Sthelstan, died 940.
■ drives Welsh from Exeter.
in\a(les Scotland.
\'ictoiy of Brunanburh.
Eadmund, died 946.
1 )unslan made Al)bot of Cllastonbury.
Cumberland granted to Malcolm, King
of Scots.
Eadred, died 955.
makes X'orthumbria nn earldom.
EadTvig, died 959.
ISanishment of Dunstan.
Revolt of Mercia under Eadgar.
Eadgar, died 975.
Duiutaii Archbishop of Canfcrbury.
Ead^rard the Martyr, tiled 978.
.Sthelred the Unready, died 1016.
Fulk the Black, Count of Anjou.
Invasion of Swein.
Massacre of Danes.
Swein harries Wessex.
Murder of Archbishop .Einieah.
All England submits to Swein.
Flight of .Ethelred to Xormandy.
Eadmund Ironside, King, and dies.
ENGLAND UNDER FOREIGN KINGS
1016
1020
1027
1035
1037
1040
1040
1060
1042
1045
1047
1051
1052
1053
1054
1016— 1204
Cnut, King, died 1035. 1055
(iodwine made Earl of Wessex. 1054 1
Cnut goes to Rome. 1060 j
Birth of William of X^'ormandy. 1058
Harald and Harthacnut divide Eng- 1060
land. 1063
Harald, King, died 1040. 1066
Harthacnut, King, died 1042.
(Jeoftry Marlel, Count of Anjou.
Eadward the Confessor, died 1066.
Lanf ratio at Bee. 1068'^
Victory of William at Val-es-dunes. 1071 j
Banishment of Godwine. 1070
William of Xormandy visits England.
Return of Godwine. 1075
Death of Godwine. 1081
Harold made Earl of West Saxons. 1085
William's victory at Mortemer. 1086
Harold's first campaign in Wales.
X'orman conquest of Southern Italy.
William's victory at the Dive.
X'ormans invade Sicily.
Harold conquers Wales.
Harold, King.
conquers at Stamford Bridge.
defeated at .Senlac or Hastings.
William of X'ormandy, King, died
10S7.
X'orman Conquest of England.
Reorganization of the Church.
Laitfrano Archbishop of Canterbury'.
Rising of Roger Fit/.-C).sbern.
William invades Wales.
Failure of Danish invasion.
Completion of Domesday Book.
CHRONOLOGICAL ANNALS
1855
1087 ^Villianl the Red, died iioo.
1093 Aiisel/ii, Archbishop.
1094 Revolt of Wales against the Norman
Marchers.
1095 Revolt of Robert de Mowbray.
1096 Xorniandy left in pledge to William.
1097 William invades Wales.
Anselm lea^■es England.
1098 ^\'ar with France.
1100 Henry the First, died 1135.
Henry's Charter.
1101 Robert of Xormandy invades England.
1106 Settlement of question of investitures.
English Conquest of Normandy.
iisa ) Fulk of Jerusalem, Count of Anjou.
1110 War with France.
mi War with Anjou.
1113 Peace of Gisors.
1114 Marriage of Matilda with Henry V.
1120 Wreck of White Ship.
1121 Henrys campaign in Wales.
1123 Revolt of Norman baronage.
1124 France and Anjou support William
Clito.
1128 Matilda married to Geoffry of Anjou.
Death of the Clito in F"]anders.
1134 Revolt of Wales.
1135 Stephen of Biois, died 1154.
1138 Normandy repulses the Angevins.
Revolt of Earl Robert.
]5attle of the Standard.
1139 Seizure of the Bishops.
Landing of Matilda.
1141 Battle of Lincoln.
1 1 47 Bir/h of Gerald of Wales.
1148 Matilda withdraws to Normand).
Archbishop Theobald driven into
exile.
1149
1151
1152
1153
1154
1159
1162
1164
1166
1170
1172
1173 ^
1174 /
1176
1178
1181
1189
1190 \
1194 j
1194 \
1196 /
1194 )
1246 /
1197
1199
1200
1203
1204
Henry of Anjou in England.
Henry becomes Duke of Normandy.
Henry marries Eleanor of Guienne.
Henry in England. Treaty of
Wallingford.
Henry the Second, died 1189.
Expedition against Toulouse.
The Great Scutage.
Thomas made Archbishop of Canter-
bury.
Constitutions of Clarendon.
Council of Northampton.
Flight of Archbishop Thomas.
Assize of Clarendon.
Strongbow's invasion of Ireland.
Inquest of Sheriffs.
Death of Archbishop Thomas.
Henry's Conquest of Ireland.
Rebellion of Henry's sons.
Assize of Northampton.
Reorganization of Curia Regis.
Assize of Arms.
Revolt of Richard.
Richard the First, died 1 1 99.
Richard's Crusade.
War with Philip Augustus.
Llewellyn - ap - Jorwerth in North
Wales.
Richard builds Chateau Gaillard.
John, dies 121 6.
• recovers Anjou and Maine.
Layanwu writes the Brut.
Murder of Arthur.
French conquest of Anjou and
Normandy.
THE GREAT CHARTER
1204—1295
1205
1206
1208
1210
1211
1213
1214
1215
1216
1217
Barons refuse to fight for recovery of
Normandy.
Stephen Lauglou Archbishop of
Canterbury.
Innocent HI. ])Uts I^ngland under
Interdict.
John divides Irish Pale into counties.
John reduces Llevvellyn-ap-Jorwerth
to submission.
John becomes the Pope's vassal.
15attle of Bouvines.
Birth of Roi^er Bacon.
The Great Charter.
Lewis of F'rancc called in by the
Barons.
Henry the Third, died 1272.
ConfirtijaliDn fiflhc Charter.
Lewis returns to France.
Charter again confirmed.
1219 Hubert de Burgh, Justiciar.
1221 Friars land in Eii^land.
1223 Charter again confirmed at London.
1224 Revolt ofVaukes de Breaute.
1225 Fresh confirmation of Charter.
1228 Stephen Langt(m's deatli.
1229 Pajial exactions.
1230 I'aihireof Henry's cam])aigninl\)itou.
1231 Consjiiracv against the Italian Clergy.
1232 I'all of Hubert de Burgh.
1237 Charter again confirmed.
1238 ICarl Simon of 1-eicester marries
Henry's sister.
1242 Defeat of Henry at Taiilebourg.
I'aroiis refuse subsidies.
1246 ) Llewelyn-a|)-Gruffydd, Prince in
1283 ( North Wales.
1248 Irisli refusal of subsidies.
Earl Simon in Gascony.
1856
CHRONOLOGICAL ANNALS
1253
I'arl Simon returns to England.
1282
Conquest of Wales.
1258
I'rovisions of Oxford.
1283
Statute of Merchants.
1264
Mise of Amiens.
1285
Statute of Winchester.
Battle of Lewes.
1290
.Statute " Quia Emptores."
1265
Commons summoned to Parliament.
Exj^ulsion of the Jews.
Battle of Evesham.
Marriage Treaty of Brigham.
1267
A'i>i,'i-r Bacon -writes his " Opus
1291
Parliament at Norham concerning
Majus. "
Llewelyn-ap-Gruffydd owned as
-Scotch succession.
1292
Edward claims appeals from Scotland.
Prince of Wales.
Death of Roger Bacon.
1270
1 xiward goes on Crusade.
1294
Seizure of Guienne by Philip of
1272
Edward the First, died 1 307.
Erance.
1277
Kdward reduces Llewelyn-ap-Gruffydd
1295
Erench fleet attacks Dover.
to submission.
Einal organization of the English
1279
Statute of Mortmain.
Parliament.
THE WAR WITH SCOTLAND AND FRANCE
1296
1297
1298
1301
1304
1305
1306
1307
1308
1310
1312
1314.
1316
1318
1322
1323
1324
1325
1326
1327
1328
1329
1330
1332
1333
1335 1
1336
1336
1337
1338
1296—1485
Edward conquers Scotland. ' 1339
Victory of Wallace at Stirling.
Outlawry of the Clergy. 1340
Barons refuse to serve in Guienne. 1341 "\
Edward conquers Scots at Falkirk. 1342 j
Truce with France. 1346
Barons demand nomination of Minis- 1347
ters by Parliament.
Barons exact fresh Confirmation of 1348
the Charters. 1349 )
Submission of Scotland. 1351 I
Parliament of Perth. 1351
Rising of Robert Bruce. 1353
Parliament of Carlisle. 1355
Edward the Second, died 1327. 1356
Gaveston exiled. 1366
The Lords Ordainers draw up Articles 1367
of Reform.
Death of Gaveston. 1368
Battle of Bannockburn. 1370
Battle of Athenree. 1372
Edward accepts the Ordinances. 1374
Death of Earl of Lancaster. Ordin- 1376
ances annulled. 1377
Truce with the Scots.
French attack Aquitaine.
The Queen and Prince Edward in
Erance.
Queen lands in England. 1378
Deposition of Edward IL
Edward the Third, died 1377. 1380
Treaty of Northampton recognizes 1381
independence of Scotland.
Death of Robert Bruce.
Death of Roger Mortimer. 1382
Edward Balliol invades Scotland.
Battle of Halidon Hill. 1384
Balliol does homage to Edward. 1386
Edward invades Scotland. laaa
France again declares war. 1394
W^ar with France and .Scotland. ,
Edward claims crown of France. 1397
Balliol driven from Scotland.
P^dward attacks France from Brabant.
Battle of Sluys.
War in Brittany and Guienme.
Battles of Crecy and Neville's Cross.
Capture of Calais.
Truce with France.
First appearance of the Black Death.
Statutes of Labourers.
First Statute of Provisors.
First Statute of Pra2munire.
Renewal of French War.
Battle of Poitiers.
Statute of Kilkenny.
The Black Prince victorious at
Navarete.
Wyclifs treatise " De Domitiio."
Storm of Limoges.
Victory of Spanish fleet off Rochelle,
Revolt of Aquitaine.
The Good Parliament.
Its work undone by the Duke of
Lancaster.
Wyclif before the Bishop of Lon-
don.
Richard the Second, died 1399.
Gregory XL denounces W^yclifs
heresy.
LonglaiicTs " Piers the Pioughtiian.''^
Wyclifs declaration against Transub-
stantiation.
The Peasant Revolt.
Condemnation of Wyclif at Blackfriars.
Suppression of the Poor Preachers.
Death of W'yclif.
Barons force Richard to dismiss the
Earl of Suffolk.
Truce with France.
Richard in Ireland.
Richard marries Isabella of F" ranee.
Truce with France prolonged.
Murder of the Duke of Gloucester.
CHRONOLOGICAL ANNALS
1S57
1398 Richard's plans of tyranny.
1399 Deposition of Richard.
Henry the Fourth, died 141 3.
1400 Revolt of Owen Glyndwr in Wales
1401 Statute of Heresy.
1402 Battle of Homildon Hill.
1403 Revolt of the Percies.
140S I ^^^^'^^ descents on England.
1405 Revolt of Archbishop Scrope.
1407 French attack Gascony.
1411 English force sent to aid Duke of
Burgundy in France.
1413 Henry the Fifth, died 1422.
1414 Lollard Conspiracy.
1415 Battle of Agincourt.
1417 Henry invades Normandy.
1419 Alliance with Duke of Burgundy.
1420 Treaty of Troyes.
1422 Henry the Sixth, died 1471.
1424 Battle of Verneuil.
1428 1 e- f /-, 1
1429 / ^^^^ Orleans.
1430 County Suffrage restricted.
1431 Death of Joan of Arc.
1435 Congress of Arras.
1445 Marriage of Margaret of Anjou.
1447 Death of Duke of Gloucester.
1450
1451
1454
1455
1456
1459
1460
1461
1461 \
1471 J
1464
1470
1471
1475
1476
1483
1485
Impeachment and death of Duke of
Suffolk.
Cade's Insurrection.
Loss of Normandy.
Loss of Guienne.
Duke of York named Protector.
First Battle of St. Albans.
End of York's Protectorate.
P" allure of Yorkist revolt.
Battle of Northampton.
York acknowledged as successor.
Battle of Wakefield.
Second Battle of St. Albans.
Battle of Mortimer's Cross.
Edward the Fourth, died 1483.
Battle of Towton.
Warwick the King-maker.
Edward marries Lady Grey.
Warwick driven to France.
Flight of Edward to Flanders.
Battles of Barnet and Tewkesbury.
Edward invades France.
Caxton settles in England.
]\Iurder of Edward the Fifth.
Richard the Third, died 1485.
Buckingham's Insurrection.
Battle of Bosworth.
THE TUDORS
1485— 1603
1485
1487
1490
1492
1497
1499
1501
1502
1505
1509
1509
1512
1513
1515
1517
1520
1521
1522
1523
1525
Henry the Seventh, died 1509.
Conspiracy of Lambert Simnel.
Treaty with Ferdinand and Isabella.
Henry invades France.
Cornish rebellion.
Perkin Warbeck captured.
Sebastian Cabot lands in America.
Co let and Ef-asmiis at Oxford.
Arthur Tudor marries Catharine of
Aragon.
Margaret Tudor marries James the
Fourth.
Colet Dean of S. Paul's.
Henry the Eighth, died 1547.
Erasmus writes the ' ' Praise of Eolly. "
War with France.
Battles of the Spurs and of Flodden.
Wolsey becomes chief Minister.
A/ore's " Utopia."
Luther denounces Indulgences.
Field of Cloth of Gold.
Luther burns the Pope's Bull.
<Juarrel of Luther with Henry the
Eighth.
Renewal of French war.
Wolsey quarrels with the Commons.
lOxaction of Benevolences defeated.
Peace with France.
Tyndale translates the New Testa-
ment.
1526
1529
1531
1532
1534
1535
1536
1537
1538
1539
1542
1544
1547
1548
1549
1551
Henry resolves on a Divorce. Perse-
cution of Protestants.
Fall of Wolsey. Ministry of Norfolk
and More.
King acknowledged as " Supreme
Head of the Church of Eng-
land."
Statute of Appeals.
Acts of Supremacy and Succession.
Cromwell Vicar-General.
Death of More.
Overthrow of the Geraldines in Ire-
land.
Dissolution of lesser Monasteries.
Pilgrimage of Grace.
English Bible issued.
Execution of Lord Exeter.
Law of Six Articles.
Suppression of CJreater Abbeys.
Completion of the Tudor Conquest of
Ireland.
War with France.
I'.xcculion of Earl of Surrey.
Ed^vard the Sixth, died 1553.
I'attle of I'iiikic Cleugli.
Suppression of Chantries.
English Book of Common Prayer.
Western Rebellion. l'".nd of Somerset's
Protectorate.
I )eath of .Somerset.
1858
CHRONOLOGICAL ANNALS
1553
1554
1555
1556
1557
1558
1559
1560
1561
1562
1553
1565
1566
1567
1568
1569
1570
1571
1572
1575
1576
1577
Mary, died 1558.
Chancellor discovers Archangel.
Mary marries Philip of Sjiain.
l-'.ngland absolved by Cardinal Pole
Perseculion of Protestants begins.
Burning of Archbishop Cranmer.
War with France.
Loss of Calais.
Elizabeth, ilied 1603.
restores Royal Supremacy and
English Prayer Book.
War in Scotland.
Mary Stuart lands in Scotland.
Rebellion of Shane O'Neill in Ulster.
Elizabeth supports French Huguenots.
Hawkins begins Slave Trade with
Africa.
First penal statute against Catholics.
English driven out of Havre.
Thirty-nine Articles imposed on
clergy.
Mary marries Darnley.
Darnley murders Rizzio.
Royal Exchange l)uilt.
IM order of Darnley.
Defeat and death of Shane O'Neill.
Mary flies to England.
Revolt of the northern Earls.
Bull of Deposition published.
Conspiracy and death of Norfolk.
Rising of the Low Countries against
Alva.
Cartwright's " Admonition to the
Parliament."
Queen refuses Netherlands.
First public Theatre in Blackfriars.
Landing of the Seminary Priests.
Drake sets sail for the Pacific.
1579 Lyly^s " Euphties."
Spenser publishes ''' Shepherd's Calen-
dar. ^^
1580 Campian and Parsons in England.
Revolt of the Desmonds.
Massacre of Smerwick.
1583 Plots to assassinate Elizabeth.
New powers given to Ecclesiastical
Commission.
1584 Murder of Prince of Orange.
Armada gathers in the Tagus.
Colonization of Virginia.
1585 English Army sent to Netherlands.
Drake on the Spanish Coast.
1586 Battle of Zutphen.
Babington's Plot.
1587 Shakspere in London.
Death of Mary Stuart.
Drake burns Spanish fleet at Cadiz.
Marlowe's " Tantbtirlaine."
1588 Defeat of the Armada.
Alarlin Marprelate Tracts.
1589 Drake plunders Corunna.
1590 Publication of the ^''Faerie QueeJi.^'
1593 Shakspere' s '■'' Venus and Adonis."
1594 Hooker's " Ecclesiastical Polity."
1596 Jonson^s " Every Alan in his
Hutnour."
Descent upon Cadiz.
1597 Ruin of the Second Armada.
Bacon'' s " Essays."
1598 Revolt of Hugh O'Neill.
1599 Expedition of Earl of Essex in Ireland.
1601 ]*'xecution of Essex.
1603 Mountjoy completes the conquest of
Ireland.
Death of Elizabeth.
THE STUARTS
1603-1688
1603
1604
1605
1610
1613
1614
1616
1617
1617
1618
James the First, died 1625.
Millenary Petition.
Parliament claims to deal with both
Church and State.
Hampton Court Conference.
Gunpowder Plot.
Bacon^s " Ad'oancement of Learning."
Parliament's Petition of Grievances.
Plantation of Ulster.
Marriage of the Elector Palatine.
First quarrels with the Parliament.
Trial of the Earl and Countess of
Somerset.
Dismissal of Chief Justice Coke.
Death of Shakspere.
Bacon Lord Keeper.
Proposals for the Spanish Marriage.
The Declaration of Sports.
Expedition and death of Ralegh.
1618
1620
1621
1623
1624
1625
1626
1627
1628
Beginning of Thirty Years' War.
Invasion of the Palatinate.
Landing of the Pilgrim-Fathers in
New England.
Bacon's '■Novum Organuin."
Impeachment of Bacon.
James tears out the Protestation of the
Commons.
Journey of Prince Charles to Madrid.
Resolve of War against S]5ain.
Charles the First, died 1649.
First Parliament dissolved.
Failure of ex])edition against Cadiz.
Buckingham impeached.
Second Parliament dissolved.
Levy of Benevolence and ForcedLoan.
Failure of exjiedition to Rochelle.
The Petition of Right.
Murder of Buckingham.
Laud Bisliop of London.
CHRONOLOGICAL ANNALS
1859
1629 Dissolution of Third Parliament.
Charter granted to Massachusetts.
Wentworth Lord President of the
North.
1630 Puritan Emigration to New England.
1633 Wentworth Lord Deputy in Ireland.
Laud Archbishop of Canterbury.
Milton's '■'■Allegro " and'-'- Penseroso.'^
Prynne's " Histrio-mastix."
1634 MiltoiCs " Comas.''''
1636 Juxon Lord Treasurer.
Book of Canons and Common Prayer
issued for Scotland.
Hampden refuses to pay Ship-money.
1637 Revolt of Edinburgh.
Trial of Hampden.
1638 Milton'' s " Lycidas."
The Scotch Covenant.
1639 Leslie at Dunse Law.
Pacification of Berwick.
1640 The Short Parliament.
The Bishops' War.
Great Council of Peers at York.
Long Parliament meets, Nov.
Pym leader of the Commons.
1641 Execution of Strafford, May.
Charles visits Scotland.
Hyde organizes royalist party.
The Irish Massacre, Oct.
The Grand Remonstrance, Nov.
1642 Impeachment of Five Members, Jan.
Charles before Hull, April.
Royalists withdraw from Parliament.
Charles raises Standard at Notting-
ham, August 22.
Battle of Edgehill, Oct. 23.
Hobbes writes the " De Cive.'"
1643 Assembly of Divines at Westminster.
Rising of the Cornishmen, May.
Death of Hampden, /«;;t'.
Battle of Roundway Down, July.
Siege of Gloucester, Aug.
Death of Falkland, Sept.
Charles negotiates with Irish Catholics.
Taking of the Covenant, .Sept. 25.
1644 i'^ight at Cropredy V,x'idge, June.
I'attle of Marston 'Moor, July 2.
Surrender of Parliamentary Army in
Cornwall, .'Sept. 2.
]5attle of Tippermuir, Sept. 2.
Battle of Newbury, Oct.
Milton 's " A reopagitica . ' '
1645 Self-denying Ordinance, April.
New Model raised.
I'.attle of Naseby, /«;/t' 14.
I'attle of Philiphaugh, Sept.
1646 (Charles surrenders to the Scots, May.
1647 Scots surrender Charles to the Houses,
Jan. 30.
Army elects Agitators, April.
The King seized at Holmby House,
June.
" Humble Representation " of the
Army, June.
Exjjulsion of the Eleven Members.
Vol. \'^ — Pakt 40
1647
1648
1649
1650
1651
1652
1653
1654
1655
1656
1657
1658
1659
1660
1661
1662
Army occupies London, Aug.
Flight of the King, Nov.
Secret Treaty of Charles with the
Scots, Dec.
Outbreak of the Royalist Revolt, Feb.
Revolt of the Fleet, and of Kent, May.
Fairfax and Cromwell in Essex and
Wales, June — July.
Battle of Preston, Aug. 17.
Surrender of Colchester, Aug. 27.
Pride's Purge, Dec.
Royal Society begins at Oxford.
Execution of Charles l.,Jaj/. 30.
Scotland proclaims Charles II. King.
England proclaims itself a Common-
wealth.
Cromwell storms Drogheda, Sept. II.
Cromwell enters Scotland.
Battle of Dunbar, .Sept. 3.
Battle of Worcester, Sept. 3.
Hobbes'' s ^''Leviathan."
Union with Scotland.
Outbreak of Dutch War, May.
Victory of Tromp, Nov.
Victory of Blake, Feb.
Cromwell drives out the Parliament,
April 20.
Constituent Convention (Barebones
Parliament), July.
Convention dissolves, Dec.
The Instrument of Government.
Oliver Cromwell, Lord Pro-
tector, tiled 165S.
Peace concluded with Holland.
First Protectorate Parliament, .'Sept.
Dissolution of the Parliament, _/«;/.
The Major-Generals.
Settlement of Scotland and Ireland.
Settlement of the Church.
Blake in the Mediterranean.
War with Spain and Conquest of
Jamaica.
Second Protectorate Parliament, Sept.
Blake's victory at Santa Cruz.
Cromwell refuses title of King.
Act of Government.
Parliament dissolved, Feb.
Hattle of the Dunes.
Ca])ture of Dunkirk.
Death of Cromwell, .Sept. 3.
Richard Cromivell, Lord Pro-
tector, died I 71 2.
Thiril Protectorate Parliament.
I'arliament dissolved.
I.ong Parliament recalled.
I ong I'arliament again driven i>ul.
Miink enters I .nndnn.
The '■ ( '<]ii\(ntiiin '' I'arliament.
Charles the Second, lands at Dover,
May, died 16S5.
Union of .Scotland and Irclandundone.
Cavalier Parliament begins.
Act of Uniformity re-enacted.
Puritan clergy driven out.
A'oyal .Society at London.
6 D
i86o
CHRONOLOGICAL ANNALS
1663 Dispensing Bill fails.
1664 Conventicle Act.
1665 Dutch War begins.
Five Mile Act.
Plague of London.
A'c-~u<iO>i's Tlicory of Fluxions.
1666 Fire of London.
1667 The Dutch in the Medway.
Dismissal of Clarendon.
I'eace of Breda.
Lewis attacks Flanders.
Ml/ton's ''^ Faradisc Lost."
1668 The Triple Alliance.
Peace of .Vix-la-Chapelle.
Ashley shrinks back from toleration
to Catholics.
1670 Treaty of Dover.
Bunyciii's " PilgrMs Progress "
wriUen.
1671 Milton's " Paradise Regained" and
" Samson Agonistcs."
A''ewton's Theory of Light.
1672 Closing of the Exchequer.
Declaration of Indulgence.
War begins with Holland.
Ashley made Chancellor.
1673 Declaration of Indulgence withdrawn.
The Test Act.
Shaftesbury dismissed.
Shaftesbury takes the lead of the
Country Party.
1674 Bill of Protestant Securities fails.
Charles makes Peace with Holland.
Danby Lord Treasurer.
1675 Treaty of mutual aid between Charles
and Lewis.
1677 Shaftesbury sent to the Tower.
Bill for Security of the Church fails.
Address of the Houses for War with
France.
Prince of Orange marries Mary.
1678 Peace of Ximeguen.
Oates invents the Popish Plot.
1679 New Parliament meets.
Fall of Danby.
New Ministry with Shaftesbury at its
head.
Temple's plan for a new Council.
Habeas Corpus Act passed.
Exclusion Bill introduced.
1679 Parliament dissolved.
Shaftesbury dismissed.
1680 Committee for agitation formed.
Monmouth pretends to the throne.
Petitioners ami Abhorrers.
Exclusion Bill thrown out by the
Lords.
Trial of Lord Stafford.
1681 Parliament at Oxford.
Treaty with France.
Limitation Bill rejected.
Shaftesbury and Monmouth arrested.
1682 Conspiracy and flight of Shaftesbury.
Penn founds Penn^iylvania.
1683 Death of Shaftesbury.
Rye House Plot.
Execution of Lord Russell and Alger-
non Sidney.
1684 Town cliarters quashed.
Army increased.
1685 James the Second, died 1701.
Insurrection of Argyll and Mon-
mouth.
Battle of Sedgemoor, July 6.
The Bloody Circuit.
Army raised to 20,000 men.
Revocation of Edict of Nantes
1686 Test Act dispensed with by royal
authority.
Ecclesiastical Commission set up.
1687 Newton's '■'■ Principia."
Expulsion of the Fellows of Magdalen.
Dismissal of Lords Rochester and
Clarendon.
Declaration of Indulgence.
The Boroughs regulated.
William of Orange protests against
the Declaration.
Tyrconnell made Lord Deputy in
Ireland.
1688 Clergy refuse to read the new De-
claration of Indulgence.
Birth of James's son.
Invitation to William.
Trial of the Seven Bishops.
Irish troops brought over to England.
Lewis attacks Germany.
William, of Orange lands at Torbay.
Flight of James.
MODERN ENGLAND
1689—1874
1689 Convention Parliament.
Declaration of Rights.
'William and Mary made King
and Queen.
William forms the Grand Alliance
against Lewis.
Battle of Killiecrankie,yi?</j' 27.
Siege of Londonderry.
Mutmy Bill.
Toleration Bill.
1689
1690
1691
1692
Bill of Rights.
Secession of the Non-jurors.
Abjuration Bill and Act of Grace.
Battle of Beachy WftiA, June 30.
Battle of the Vioywit, July i.
William repulsed from Limerick.
Battle of Aughrim, July.
Capitulation and Treaty of Limerick
Massacre of Glencoe.
Battle of La Hogue, May 19.
CHRONOLOGICAL ANNALS
i86i
1693 Sunderland's plan of a Ministry.
1694- Bank of England set up.
Death of Mary.
1696 Currency restored.
1697 Peace of Ryswick.
1698 First Partition Treaty.
1700 Second Partition Treaty.
1701 Duke of Anjou becomes King of
Spain.
Act of Settlement passed.
Death of James II.
1702 Anne, died 1714.
1704- Battle of Blenheim, August 13.
Harley and St. John take office.
1705 Victories of Peterborough in Spain.
1706 Battle of Ramillies, May 23.
1707 Act of Union with Scotland.
1708 Dismissal of Harley and St. John.
Battle of Oudenarde.
1709 Battle of Malplaquet.
1710 Trial of Sacheverell.
Tory Ministry of Harley and St. John.
1712 Dismissal of Marlborough.
1713 Treaty of Utrecht.
1714. George the First, died 1727.
Ministry of Tovvnshend and Walpole.
1715 Jacobite Revolt under Lord Mar.
1716 The Septennial Bill.
1717 The Triple Alliance,
Ministry of Lord Stanhope.
1718 The Quadruple Alliance.
1720 Lailure of the Peerage Bill.
The South Sea Company.
1721 Ministry of Sir Robert Walpole.
1723 Exile of Bishop Atterbury.
1727 War with Austria and Spain.
George the Second, died 1760.
1729 Treaty of Seville.
1730 Free e.xportation of American rice
allowed.
1731 Treaty of Vienna.
1733 Walpole's Excise Bill.
War of the Polish Succession.
Family compact between France and
Spain.
1737 Death of Queen Caroline.
1738 7'he Methodists appear- in London.
1739 War declared with Sjiain.
1740 War of the Austrian Succession.
1742 Resignation of Walpole.
1743 Battle of Dettingen, [une 27.
1745 Ministry of Henry Pelham.
Battle of Fontenoy, May 31.
Charles Edward lands in Scotland.
Piattle of Prestonpans, Sept. 21.
' harles lulward reaches V)e.x\)y,Dec.a,.
1746 I'.attle of Falkirk, /(?;/. 23.
iiattle of Culloden, April 16.
1748 I'eace of Aix-la-Chaiielle.
1751 ' live's surprise of .\rcot.
1754 l)eath of Henrv Pelham.
Ministry of Duke of Newcastle.
1755 The .Seven 'S'ears' War.
1 >efeat of General liraddock.
1756 Loss of Port Mahon.
1756 Retreat of Admiral Byng.
1757 Convention of Closter-Seven.
Ministry of William Pitt.
Battle of Plassey, June 23.
1758 Capture of Louisburg and Cape Breton.
Capture of Fort Duquesne.
1759 Battle of Minden, .-i?/^?^j-/ i.
Capture of Fort Niagara and Ticon-
deroga.
Wolfe's victory on Heights of
Abraham.
Battle of Quiberon Bay, Nov. 20.
1760 George the Third, died 1820.
Battle of Wandewash.
1761 Pitt resigns office.
Ministry of Lord Bute.
Brindleyi's Canal over the Ii-well.
1763 Peace of Paris.
Ministry of George Grenville.
Wedgwood establishes Potteries.
1764 First expulsion of Wilkes from House
of Commons.
Hargreaves invents Spinning Jenny.
1765 Stamp Act passed.
Ministry of Lord Rockingham.
Meeting and protest of American
Congress.
Watt invents Steam Engine.
1766 Repeal of Stamp Act.
Ministry of Lord Chatham.
1768 Ministry of the Duke of Grafton.
Second expulsion of Wilkes.
Arkwrigkt invents SpinningMachitic.
1769 Wilkesthree times elected for Middle-
sex.
House of Commons seats Col. Luttrell.
Occupation of Boston by British
troops.
Letters of Junius.
1770 Chatham's proposal of Parliamentary
Reform.
Ministry of Lord North.
1771 Last attempt to prevent Parliamentary
reporting.
Beginning of the great English Jour-
nals.
1773 Hastings appointed Governor-General.
Boston tea-riots.
1774 Military occupation of Boston.
Its port closed.
Massachusetts Charter altered.
Congress assembles at Philadelphia.
1775 Rejection of Chatham's plan of con-
ciliation.
Skirmish at Lexington.
Americans, under Washington, besiege
Boston.
Battle of Bunker's Hill.
Southern Colonies expel iheir Gover-
nors.
1776 Croiiipton invents the Mule.
Arnold invades Canada.
Evacuation of IJoston.
Declaration of Inde])endence, ////)' 4.
Battles of Brooklyn anil Trenton.
6 D 2
i862
CHRONOLOGICAL ANNALS
1776
Aiiain Smit/i's " Wealth of Nations."
1798
Irish revolt crushed at Vinegar Hill.
1777
Hattle of Brantlywinc.
Battle of the Nile.
Surrcndor of Saralof^a, Oct. 1 7.
1799
Pitt revives the Coalition against
Chatham iJioposes I'cderal Union.
France.
Washington at \'alley Forge.
Conquest of Mysore.
1778
AiJiancc of France and Spain with
1800
Surrender of .Malta to English Fleet.
United States.
Armed Neutrality of Northern Powers.
Death of Chatham.
Act of Union with Ireland.
1779
Siege of CihraUar.
1801
George the Third rejects Pitt's Plan
Armed Neutrality of Northern
of Catholic Emancipation.
I'owers.
Administration of Mr. Addington.
The Irish Vohinteers.
Surrender of French army in Egypt.
1780
Capture of Charlestown.
Battle of Copenhagen.
Descent of Ilyder AH on the Carnatic.
1802
Peace of Amiens.
1781
Defeat of Ilyder at Porto Novo.
Publication of " Edinburgh Review."
Surrender of Cornwallisat Yorktown.
1803
War declared against Buonaparte.
1782
Ministry of Lord Rockingham.
Battle of Assaye.
Victories of Rodney.
1804-
Second Ministry of Pitt.
Repeal of Poynings' Act.
1805
Battle of Trafalgar, Oct. 21.
Pitt's Bill for Parliamentary Reform.
1806
Death of Pitt, y<r;/. 23.
Burke's Bill of Economical Reform.
Ministry of Lord Grenville.
Shelburne Ministry.
Death of Fox.
Repulse of Allies from Gibraltar.
1807
Orders in Council.
1783
Treaties of Paris and Versailles.
Abolition of Slave Trade.
Coalition Ministry of Fox and North.
Ministry of Duke of Portland.
Fox's India Bill.
Seizure of I )anish Fleet.
Ministry of Pitt.
1808
Battle of Vimiera, and Convention of
1784
Pitt's India Bill.
Cintra.
Financial Reforms.
1809
America passes Non-Intercourse Act.
1785
Parliamentary Reform Bill.
Battle of Corunna,y<2«. 16.
Free Trade Bill between England
Wellesley drives Soult from Oporto.
and Ireland.
Battle of Talavera, July 28.
1786
Trial of Warren Hastings.
P^xpedition against Walcheren.
1787
Treaty of Commerce with P'rance.
Ministry of S])encer Perceval.
1788
The Regency 15111.
Revival of Parliamentary Reform.
1789
Meeting of Slates-General at \'er-
1810
Battle of Busaco.
sailles.
Lines of Torres Vedras.
New French Constitution.
1811
Prince of Wales becomes Regent.
Triple Alliance for defence of Turkey.
Battle of Fuentes d'Onore, J/ay 5.
1790
Quarrel over Nootka Sound.
Luddite Riots.
Pitt defends Poland.
1812
Assassination of Spencer Perceval.
Burke's " Reflect ions on the French
Ministry of Lord Liverpool.
Revolution.'''
Storm of Ciudad Rodrigo and
1791
Representative Government set up in
Badajoz.
Canada.
America declares War against Eng-
Fox's Libel Act.
land.
Burke's ' ^Appeal front the New to the
Battle of Salamanca, y«/)' 22.
Old JFhii,rs."
Wellington retreats from Burgos.
1792
Pitt hinders Holland from joining the
Victories of American frigates.
Coalition.
1813
Battle of Vitoria,y/wt' 21.
P>ance opens the Scheldt.
Battles of the Pyrenees.
Pitt's efforts for peace.
Wellington enters France, Oct.
The United Irishmen.
Americans attack Canada.
1793
France declares War on England.
1814
Battle of Orthes.
Part of Whigs join Pitt.
Battle of Toulouse, April 10.
English army lands in Flanders.
Battle of Chippewa, y«/)'.
English driven from Toulon.
Raid upon Washington.
1794
English driven from Holland.
British re]nilses at Plattsburg and
Suspension of Habeas Corpus Act.
New Orleans.
Victory of Lord Howe, f line i.
1815
Battle of Quatre Bras, June 16.
1796
Burke's ' ' Letters on a Regicide Peace. "
Battle of Waterloo, June iS.
1797
England alone in the War with
Treaty of Vienna.
France.
1819
Manchester Massacre.
Battle of Camperdown.
1820
Cato Street Conspiracy.
Battle of Cape St. Vincent.
George the Fourth, died 1830.
CHRONOLOGICAL ANNALS
1863
1820
Bill for the Queen's Divorce.
1842
Peace with China.
1822
Canning Foreign Minister.
Massacre of English Army in
1823
Mr. Huskisson joins the Ministry.
Affghanistan.
1826
Expedition to Portugal.
Victories of Pollock in Affghanistan.
Recognition of South American
Annexation of Scinde.
States.
1845
Battles of Moodkee and Ferozeshah.
1827
Ministry of Mr. Canning.
1846
Battle of Sobraon.
Ministry of Lord Goderich.
Repeal of the Corn Laws.
Battle of Xavarino.
Ministry of Lord John Russell.
1828
Ministry of Duke of ^Yellington.
1848
Suppression of the Chartists and Irish
1829
Catholic Emancipation Bill.
rebels.
1830
William the Fourth, died 1837.
1849
Victory of Goojerat.
Ministry of Lord Grey.
Annexation of the Punjaub.
Opening of Liverpool and Manchester
1852
Ministry of Lord Derby.
Raihvay.
Ministry of Lord Aberdeen.
1831
Reform Agitation,
1854
Alliance with France against Russia.
1832
Parliamentary Reform Bill passed,
Siege of Sebastopol.
June 7.
Battle of Inkermann, Nov. 5.
1833
Suppression of Colonial Slavery.
1855
Ministry of Lord Palmerston.
East Indian trade thrown open.
Capture of Sebastopol.
1834
Ministry of Lord Melbourne.
1856
Peace of Paris with Russia.
New Poor Law.
1857
Sepoy Mutiny in Bengal.
System of National Education begun.
1858
Sovereignty of India transferred to
^linistry of Sir Robert Peel.
the Crown.
1835
Ministry of Lord Melbourne replaced.
Volunteer movement.
Municipal Corporation Act.
Second Ministry of Lord Derby.
1836
General Registration Act.
1859
Second Ministry of Lord Palmerston.
Civil Marriages Act.
1865
Ministry of Lord Russell.
1837
Victoria.
1866
Third Ministry of Lord Derby.
1838
Formation of Anti-Corn-Law League.
1867
Parliamentary Reform Bill.
1839
Committee of Privy Council for Edu-
1868
Ministry of Mr. Disraeli.
cation instituted.
Ministry of Mr. Gladstone.
Demands for a People's Charter.
1869
Disestablishment of Episcopal Church
Revolt in Canada.
in Ireland.
War with China.
1870
Irish Land Bill.
Occupation of Cabul.
Education Bill.
1840
Quadruple Alliance with France,
1871
Abolition of religious tests in Univer-
Portugal and Spain.
sities.
Bombardment of Acre.
Armv Bill.
184-1
Ministry of Sir Robert Peel.
1872
Ballot Bill.
1842
Income Tax revived.
1874
Second Ministry of Mr. Disraeli.
GENEALOGICAL TABLES
i866
GENEALOGICAL TABLES
KINGS OF THE HOUSE OF CERDIC, FROM ECGBERHT
ECGBERHT,
r. 802-839.
iETHELWULF,
r. 839-857.
RED
-901.
1
/ETHELBALD,
r. 857-860.
iETHELBERHT,
r. 860-866.
iKTHELRED 1
r. 866-871.
r. 871-
= Ealhsivith.
1
EADWARD
THE ELDER,
r. 901-925.
i
;ed,
-955-
th.
«
Emilia of
Normandy
?'■
1
iETHELSTAN,
r. 925-940-
1
EADMUND, = Mlfg
r. 940-946. 1
ifu. EADB
r. 946-
GAR, = 2. ^Elfthry
1-975-
i^THELRED II.
r. 978-1016.
EADWIG,
r. 955-959-
I. MthelfliEd — EAD
j r. 959
EADWARD
THE MARTVR,
r. 975-978.
I. Name =
■uncertain
Cnut,
1017-1035.
1
EADMUND IRONSIDE,
r. Ap. 23-Nov. 30,
1016.
;;/. Ealdgyth.
1
Alfred,
killed 1036.
1
EADWARD
THE
CONFESSOR,
r. 1042-1066.
1
1
i
!
1
Harthacnut,
r. 1040-1042.
1
Eadmund.
1
Eadward,
d. 1057.
»«. Agatha.
1
1
Eadgar,
elected
King in
1066.
1
Margaret,
d. 1093.
«/. Malcolm Iff.
King of Scots.
Matilda,
d. 1118.
m. Henry [.
King of
Kngland.
Christina,
a nun.
THE DANISH KINGS
SWEIN FORKBEARD,
d. 1014.
CNUT = Emma of Normandy, •widow\
r. 1016-1035. of King /Ethelred II.
Swegen. HARALD,
r. 1035-1040.
HARTHACNUT,
r. 1040-1042.
Illegitimate.
DUKES OF THE NORMANS
DUKES OF THE NORMANS
HROLF,
ist Duke of the Normans,
WILLIAM
LONGSWORD,
r. 927-943.
RICHARD
THE FEARLESS,
r. 943-996.
RICHARD
THE GOOD,
r. 996-1026.
Emma
VI. I. Mthelred II. of
England.
}n. 2. Cmit of England
and Denmark.
RICHARD III.
r. 1026-1028.
ROBERT
THE MAGNIFICENT,
r. 1028-1035.
WILLIAM
THE CONQUEROR,
r. 1035-1087.
ROBERT II.
r. 1087-1096
(from 1096 to I roo
the Duchy was
held by his
brother William),
and 1100-1106
(when he was over-
thrown at Tinche-
brai by his
brother Henry).
WILLIAM
RUFUS.
r. 1006-1100.
HENRY I.
r. 1106-1135.
Matilda,
?«. GEOFFRY,
COUNT OF ANJOU
AND MAINE
(who won the
Duchy from
Stephen).
Adela.
m. Stephen,
Count of Blots.
STEPHEN
OK ni.ois.
s. 1135-
HENRY II.
invested with the
Duchy 1151,
d. ii8g.
RICHARD
THE I.ION HEART,
r. 1189-1199.
JOHN,
r. II 99- 1 204
(when Normandy was conquered
by France).
iSCS
GENEALOGICAL TABLES
Claim of ED'WARD III. to the French Crown
PHILIP III.
THE HOLD,
r. 1270-1285.
PHILIP IV.
THE FAIR,
r. 1285-1314.
Charles, Count
of Valois.
d. 1325.
LEWIS X.
r. 1314-1316.
PHILIP V.
THE LONG,
r. 1316-1322.
CHARLES IV.
THE FAIR,
r. 1322 — 1328.
Isabel,
;//. Edward II.
of En^iand.
PHILIP VI.
(Ji- Valols,
r. 1328-1350.
JOHN I.
15 Nov.-ig Nov.
1316.
Edward III.
of England.
JOHN II.
THE c;oou.
r. 1350-1364.
Descent of HENRY IV.
HENRY III.
EDWARD I.
Edmund
Earl of Lancaster.
EDWARD II.
EDWARD III.
Thomas,
Earl of Lancaster,
beheaded 1322.
Henry,
Earl of Lancaster.
Henry,
Duke of Lancaster.
John of Gaunt, = Blanche
Duke of Lancaster. I of Lancaster
HENRY IV.
HOUSE OF YORK
1869
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INDEX
Vol. IV— Part 40 6 E
INDEX
Abbo of Fleury, no
Abbot, Archbishop of Canterbury, 95S, 1062
Abercorn, see of, 63, 66, 352
Abercromby, General, 1652, 1793
Aberdeen, Earl of, 1844
Aberffraw, princes of, 309, 318
" Abhorrers," 1423
Aboukir, battle of, 1793
Aclea, battle of, 86
Acre, siege of, 1774
bombardment of, 1838
Addington's Ministry, 1792, 1799
Adelard of Bath, 247, 261
Admonition to Parliament, 957
yElfheah, Archbishop of Canterbury, 1 1 7, 123
yElfred, King of Wessex, 88
his rule, 90 — 93
character, 93 — 95
literary work, 95 — 98
struggle with Danes, 88, 89, 98
death, 99
" Sayings of," 229
Alfred, the /Etheling, 127, 128
JEWe, King of Deira, 31
yElle, King of the South Saxons, 18
yEthelbald, King of Mercia, 68, 69, 74
^{thelberht. King of Kent, 30 — 34
ylithelfired. Lady of the Mercians, 92, 99, 100
^thelfrith, King of Northumbria, 34, 35
ylithelgifu, mother-in-law of Eadwig, 106, 107
Aixhdred, Ealdorman of Mercia, 92, 98, 99
yluhelred. King of Mercia, 63, 66, 67
^:thelred the First, King of Wessex, 87, 88
^thelred the Unready, King of Wessex, 114
marriage, 116, 144
flight to Normandy, 117, 144
death, 122
A^thelric, King of Bernicia, 23, 29
yT'2thelstan, King of Wessex, loi — 103
yluhelthryth (Elheldreda), S., 60
/Elhelwold, Bishoj) of Winchester, 108
/Etheiwulf, King of Wessex, 86, 87
Affghanistan, war in, 1839, 1840
Agincourt, battle of, 520, 521
Agitators, Council of, 1191
Af^riculture, changes in, 469 — 477, 568, 780— 7S1
Aidan, S., 44, 46, 47
Aislabie, Chancellor of the Exchequer, 1592
Aix-la-Chapelle, Peace of, 1370, 1628
Albemarle, Stephen of, 166
Alberoni, Cardinal, 1587, 1588
Alcluyd, 74
Alcuin, 79
Aldfrith the Learned, King of Northumbria, 69
Aldgate, Priory of Holy Trinity at, 181
Alexander the First, Czar of Russia, 1806
Alexander the Third, King of Scots, 359
Allen, Dr., 817
Alhance, Grand, 1492, 1539
Holy, 1832
Triple, 1370, 1586— 1588
Quadruple, 1838
Alma, battle of, 1844
Almanza, battle of, 1565
Almeida, siege of, 181 2
Alva, Duke of, 770, 824
America, English settlements in. 1044 — 1051,
1661, 1662
rivalry with the French, 1632 — 1634, 1651 —
1655
religion and government, 1663, 1664
relations with England, 1664, 1679, 1680
struggle for self-taxation, 16S0, 1681, 1695 —
1697
Congress, 1682, 1699, 1701, 1703
Declaration of Independence, 1703
alliance with France, 1705
war with England, 1701 — 1704, 1712
embargoand non-intercourse, 1813 — 1814, 181S
war with England, 1818, 1821 — 1823
civil war, 1846
Spanish settlements, 1043
their trade with English, 1601
Amherst, General, 1652, 1655
Amiens, Mise of, 296
Peace of, 1795
Anderida, 18
Andredsweald, 18
Angeln, i
Anglesey conquered by Eadwine, 38
Anglia, East, settlement of the Engle in, 19
submits to Pciula, 39 — 41
seized by Offa, 82
revolts from Mercia, I'/i/W.
contiuered by Danes, 86 — 88
earkloni of, 123
Vol. L pp. 1—468 ; \'ol. If. pp. 469—931 ; Vol. III. pp. 933 1409 ; Vol. I\ . ])p
141 1-
6 !•;
1 850.
iSyS
INDEX
Anjou, Counts of, 185— 191
Anjou, Duke of, suitor of Klizabeth, 828, 832
Anne, daughter of James the Second, deserts him,
i486
her relations with the Marlboroughs, 15 19,
1541, 1543' 1563
Queen, 1545
her Bounty, 1556
death, 1576
Anne of Bohemia, wife of Richard the Second, 508
Ansehn, S., 136 — 138
Archbishop of Canterbury, 167
exiled, 16S
recalled, 169
supports Henry the First, 182
Anti-Corn Law League, 1842
Appeal, Henry the Second's court of, 211
Aquitaine, loss of, 448
Arcot, Clive's capture of, 1631
Argyle, Earl and Marquis of, Presbyterian leader,
1 124, 119S, 1205, 1216
beheaded, 1359, 1445
Argyll, Earl of, his condemnation, rebellion and
death, 1445
Aristotle, study of, in Middle Ages, 256, 261, 262,
287
Arkwright invents spinning-machine, 1 732
Arlington, Bennet, Earl of, 1366, 1369
forms Triple Alliance, 1370, 1371
share in Treaty of Dover, 1372, 1375
dismissed, 1395
Arlotta, mother of William the Conqueror, 139
Armada, Spanish, 835 — 841
second, 891
Arminians, or Latitudinarians, 672, 673
Arms, Assize of, 209
Army, standing, its origin, 1361
increased by James the Second, 1448
subject to control of Parliament, 1505
purchase in, abolished, 1848
Army Plot, 11 23
Arthur, romances and legends of, 226, 227,316,317
Arthur of Brittany, 218
Arthur, son of Henry the Seventh, 611
Articles of Religion, 673
the Six, 703
repealed, 711
Forty-two, 714
Thirty-nine, 762
Three, 957, 960
Artillery, results of its introduction, 589
Arundel, Archbishop of Canterbury, 507 508
Arundel, Earl of. Lord Privy Seal, 1457
Arundel, Earl of, patron of Caxton, 581
Ascue, Anne, 709
Ashdown, battle of, 88
Ashley, Lord, see Cooper
opposes Act of Uniformity, 1330
heads the Presbyterians, 1366
his scheme of Protestant comprehension,
1367
terms of toleration, 1377
Chancellor, 1379 ; see Shaftesbury
Assandun, battle of, 122
Asser, 95
Assize of Arms, 209
of Clarendon, 210
of Northampton, 21 1
Astley, Sir Jacob, 11 75
Aston, Sir Arthur, 1209, 1210
Athelney, 89, 96
Athenree, battle of, 903
Atterbury, Bishop of Rochester, 1592
Aughrim, battle of, 1516
Augsburg, league of, 1479
Augustine, S., his mission to England, 3 1 — 34
Austerlilz, battle of, 1801
Austria joins the Grand Alliance, 1492
war of succession in, 1603 — 1605
policy during French war, 1749, 1751, 1756,
1774— 1775, 1801, 1820
Avaux, Count of, 1503
Aylesford, battle of, 15
Babington's Plot, 833
Bacon, Francis, 881—888
his plea for Church reform, 973
fall, 1008 — loio
death, loio
Bacon, Roger, 262 — 266
Badajoz stormed, 1818
Badby, John, 514
Badon, Mount, battle of, 19
Baeda, 71 — 74
Alfred's translation of, 97
" Balance of power," 1577, 1578
Ball, John, 461, 483, 484, 486
Balliol, Edward, 410, 412, 413
Balliol, John, 359 — 364
Balmerino, Earl of, 1627
Baltimore, Calvert, Lord, 1049
Bamborough, 23, 47
Bancroft, Archbishop of Canterbury, 958, 9S6
Bangor, monks of, slain, 35
Bank of England founded, 1526
Bannockburn, battle of, 408
Bantry Bay, battle in, 15 11
Baptists, 1 1 78
Barbury Hill, battle of, 20
Bards, the Welsh, 306 — 309, 313 — 315
Barebones, Praise-God, 1234
Barlow, Bishop of St. David's, 700
Barnet, battle of, 559
Barons, their relations with the Conqueror, 156,
158, 163, 164
with Henry the First, 182, 183
with Henry the Second, 208 — 209
with John, 234, 235, 237—239
council of, appointed to enforce the Charter,
243
offer the crown to Lewis, 244
tjulrrel with Henry the Third, 292, 293
war with him, 296 — 298
greater r.nd lesser, 330
their rule, 388—389
struggle with Edward the First, 389 — 391,
394—395
effects of Hundred Years' War on, 530 — 533
their decline, 564 — 565
Vol. L pp. I — 468 ; Vol. n. pp. 469—931 ; Vol. HL pp. 933—1409; Vol. IV. pp. 1411 — 1850.
INDEX
1879
B3.rons^i-on//>iued.
Henry the Seventh's dealings with, 590, 591
Northern, rise against Elizabeth, 773
Barrier, the Dutch, 1537
Bartholomew's Day, S. , massacre of, 826
the English, 1331
Basing House, siege of, 1 1 73, 1174
Bastille destroyed, 1747
Bates's case, 989
Bath, Henry de, 274
Bautzen, battle of, 1820
Baxter, Richard, 1331, 1339, 1367, 1458
Baylen, French surrender at, 1809
Beachy Head, battle of, 15 17
Beaufort, Henry, Bishop of Winchester, 530
Cardinal, 543
Beaufort, house of, its claims to the Crown, 54S
Beaufort, Margaret, see Richmond
Beaumont, palace of, 252
Bee, abbey of, 136
Beckford, Alderman, 1644
Bedford, Duke of, minister of George the Third,
1677, 1687
Bedford, John, Duke of, Regent of France, 534 —
536, 543. 544
Bedloe, 1407
Beket, Gilbert, 171, 172
site of his house, 196
Beket, Thomas, 196, 197
Chancellor, 199
Archbishop of Canterbury, 201
quarrel with Henry the Second, 202—205
death, 207
canonized, z7>.
desecration of his shrine, 701
Belesme, Robert of, 182, 311
Bellahoe, battle of, 907
Bellasys, Lord, 1457
Benedict Biscop, 55, 71
" Benedict of Peterborough," 223
" Benevolences " under Edward the Fourth, 571
under Wolsey, 640, 641
under James the First, 996
Bensington, battle of, 76
Bentham, Jeremy, 181 7
Beorhtric, King of \Vessex, 78, 80
Beornwulf, King of Mercia, 82
Bemicia, kingdom of, 23
joined with Deira, ?/'. , 29
Bertha, wife of yJithelberhi of Kent, 31
Ben\ick, Duke of, 1551, 1565
Berwick stormed by Edward the P'irst, 363
taken by Bruce, 400, 409
regained l)y England, 412
its peculiar position, 413
pacification at, 1109
Beverley, Alfred of, 226
Bible, Wyclif's translation of, 468
its effects, 504
in Bohemia, 508
translation ])romised by Henry the Eighth, 659
Tyndalc's, 659, 695—697
Coverdale's, 673
the Geneva, 1058
effects of, on En and, 935—937
Bigod, Earl of Norfolk, defies Edward the First,
395
Bigod, Hugh, Earl, of Norfolk, 292, 294
Birinus, 44
Bishops, mode of appointing, 666, 667
James the First's theory of, 980
expelled from House of Lords, 11 19
restored, 1328
position under the Georges, 1608, 1609
the Seven, 1461 — 1463
Black Death, the, 478 — 479
Blake defends Taunton, 1213
blockades Rupert in the Tagus, //'.
struggle with the Dutch, 1225, 1227, 1228
with Spain, 1261, 1267
his corpse outraged, 1327
Blenheim, battle of, 1553 — 1555
Bloreheath, battle of, 550
Blucher, Marshal, 1824, 1S26
Bohemia, effects of Wyclif's writings in, 508
struggle against Austria, 1005 — 1007
BolejTi, Anne, 646, 649, 664, 665, 689
Bolingbroke, Viscount (see St. John), 1569
rivalry with Harley, 1571 — 1573
joins the Pretender, 1580
returns, 1599
Bombay ceded to England, 1345, 1629
Boniface, S. (Winfrith), 78
Boniface VHL, Pope, 367, 394
Boniface of Savoy, Archbishop of Canterbury,
272, 273
Bonner, Bishop of London, 719, 723, 725, 935
Born, Bertrand de, 214
Borodino, battle of, 1819
Boroughbridge, battle of, 401
Boroughs, early English, 369 — 372
their representation in Parliament, 300,
335—342
restriction of franchise in, 527, 528
changes in representation, 808
new, created under the Tudors, 981
the Five, 92, 99
Boscawen, Admiral, 1652
Boston (Lincolnshire), its foundation, 60
Boston (Massachusetts) occupied by British troops,
1695
tea-riots, 1696
port closed, 1697
siege of, 1701 — 1702
BosworTh Field, battle of, 587
Bothwell, Earl of, 767 — 770
Botulf founds Boston, 60
Boulogne, Eustace, Count of, 131, 151
Boulogne, Najioleon's camp at, 1799
Bouvines, battle of, 237
Boyle, chemist, 1303
Boyne, battle of, 1 5 14
" Boys," the, 1599
Braddock, General, 1634
liradford, battle of, 62
Bradshaw, John, 1200, 1231, 1242, 1327
Brandywine, battle of, 1704
Breaule, Faukes de, 266, 26S
Breda, Peace of, 1366
Bremen, dispute about, 1588
Vol. I. pp. I — 468; Vol II. ])]>. 469—931 ; Vol in. |)|). 933—1409; \'ol. I\'. ))p. 1411 1S50.
iSSo
INDEX
Breslau, Peace of, 1621
Brctigny, treaty of, 444
Brigham, treaty of, 359
Brindlcy, engineer, 1729
Bristol, Earfof, 1366
Bristol, slave-trade at, in, 165, 9S5
siege of, 1 1 46
surrender, II4S
West Indian Trade, 1595
Britain, Great, 1559
Britain under the Romans, 8, 9
attacked by Picts and Scots, 9, 10
English conquest of, 12 — 23
Britons, extermination of, 16, 17
defeat at Dregsastan, 34
end of their dominion, 82
Brooklyn, battle of, 1703
Browne, Archbishop of Dublin, 915, 916
Browne's Pastorals, 1094
Brownists, 962, 963, 1049, 11 77
Bruce, David, 412, 413, 431, 438
Bruce, Edward. 903
Bruce, Robert, the elder, 361, 367
Bruce, Robert, the younger, murders ComjTi, 404
crowned, ib.
his successes. 406 — 409
truce with England, 409
acknowledged king, 41 1
dies, 412
Brunanburh, battle of, 103
Brunswick, Duke of, 1757
Brunswick, Ferdinand, Prince of, 1649, 1650,
1669
Buckingham, Duke of, beheaded, 639, 640
Buckingham, George Villiers, Duke of, looi, 1002
his policy, 1021, 1024 — 1025
impeached, 1027 — 1029
expedition to Rochelle, 1033
slain, 1039
Buckingham, second Duke of, 1291, 1301, 1377
negotiates with Holland, 1379
dismissed, 1395
imprisoned, 1399
Bulmer, Lady, burnt, 685
Bunkers Hill, battle of, 1701
Bunyan, John, 950 — 952, 1339 — 1341
his "Pilgrim's Progress,"' 1343— 1345
released, 1379
refuses Indulgence, 1458
Buonaparte, Joseph, King of Naples and Spain,
180S, 1 819
Buonaparte, Napoleon, 1767
successes in Italy, 1769
in Egypt, 1773
designs on Syria, 1774
First Consul, ib.
victory at Niarengo, ib.
Continental System, 1792
schemes of conquest, 1793, 1/97
France under him, 1797
war declared against, ib.
threatens invasion of England, 1799; see
Napoleon
Burdett, Sir Francis, 1817
Burford, battle of, 69
Burgh, Hubert de, 246, 266, 270, 271
Hurgos, siege of, 18 19
Burgoyne, General, 1704
Burgundy, Charles the Bold, Duke of, 558
Burgundy, John, Duke of, 51 8, 525
Burgundy, Philip, Duke of, 525, 535, 542, 543
Burke, Edmund, 1683— 1686
supports American demands, 1699
his Hill of Economical Reform, 1722
moves impeachment of Hastings, 1741
hostility to the Revolution, 1750 -1755, 1757
quarrel with Fox, 1753
" Letters on Regicide Peace," 1769
death, 1771
Burleigh, Lord, 835 ; see Cecil
Burnet, Bishop of Salisbury, 1310, 1509
Busaco, battle of, 181 2
Bute, Earl of, 1671, 1672, 1676
his policy in America, 1680
Butler, Bishop, 1310
Butler's " Hudibras," 1290
Byng, Admiral, 1635
" Cabal," the, 1414
Cabinet, its origin, 1412 — 1415
Cabot, Sebastian, 594, 1043
Cabul occupied, 1838
Cade, John, 546, 548
Cadiz, English descent on, S91
blockaded, 1621
Cadwallon, king of the Welsh, 39, 41
Ctedmon, 52 — 54
Caen, University founded by Bedford at, 543
Calais, siege of, by Edward the Third, 438 — 440
ceded to him, 444
lost, 731
Calcutta, its origin, 1629
Black Hole of, 1648
Calne, council of, 113
Cambray, league of, 611
treaty of, 649
Cambridge, George, Duke of, 1573 ; see George
the Second
Cambridge, the New Learning at, 608
Erasmus at, ib., 616
Protestants at, 697
Camden, 800
Campbell, Sir Colin, 1845
Campeggio, Cardinal, 648, 649
Camperdown, battle of, 1771
Campian, Jesuit, 819 — 821
Campo P'ormio, Treaty of, 1769
Canada, conquest of, 1651 — 1655
ceded by France, 1672
Constitution granted to, 1753
American invasions of, 1821
revolt in, 1837
Canals, 1729
Canning, George, Foreign Secretary, 1806
his policy, ib., 1807, 1 809
retires, 1811
supports Catholic emancipation, 1817
returns to office, 1832
death, ib.
Vol. I. pp. I — 468 ; Vol. II. p]i. 469 — 931 ; Vol. HI. pp. 933 — 1409; Vol. IV. pp. 141 1 — 1850.
INDEX
Canons of 1604, 986
Ceorls, 6
of 1636, 1091
Cerdic, first King of West Saxons, 19, 20
Canterbury, royal city of Kent, 31
Ceylon won by England, 1769
Augustine at, ^^
Chad, see Ceadda
becomes the ecclesiastical centre of England,
Chalgrove Field, battle of, 1148
58,59
Chalus, siege of, 218
Theodore's school at, 71
Chambers, Alderman, 1 073
sacked by Danes, 117
Chancellor, Richard, 789
historians of, 222
Chancellor, the, his office, 183, 325, 326
Cape of Good Hope won by England, 1769
Chancery, Court of, 325, 326
Cardigan, conquest of, 312
Chantries suppressed, 708
Carlisle conquered by Ecgfrith, 62
Charford, battle of, 19
Cuthbert at, 63, 65
Charles (the First), Prince, negotiations for his
Mary Stuart at, 771
marriage, 1002, 1012
Carolinas, their settlement, 1661
goes to Madrid, 1017
Caroline of Anspach, wife of George the Second,
his character, 1019
1596, 1599
marriage, 1023
Carteret, Lord, 1621, 1623
King, id.
Carthusians, victims of T. Cromwell, 679
policy, z'd.
Cartwright, Thomas, 953 — 955, 964 — 966
protects Buckingham, 1027, 1029, 1030, 1038
Carucage, 242
levies forced loan, 1030
Cassel, battle of, 1400
consents to Petition of Right, 1037
Castlebar, battle of, 1 785
his personal government, 1067 — 1075
Castlemaine, Countess of, 1380 ; see Cleveland
dealings with Scotland, 1090, iioi, 1103,
Castlereagh, Lord, 1791, 181 1, 1818, 1832
1 105 — 1 1 10, 1 124
Catesby, Robert, 986
tries to arrest five members, 1 133 — 1135
Catharine of Aragon, wife of Henry the E
ighth.
attempt on Hull, 1 139
611, 646, 647, 648, 664
raises standard at Nottingham, 1141
Catharine of Braganza, wife of Charles the S(
jcond,
campaign of 1642, 1142 — 1144
1364
besieges Gloucester, 1149
Catharine of France, wife of Henry the Fifth, 525
negotiates with Confederate Catholics, 11 50
Catharine the Second, Empress of Russia,
1748,
movements in 1644, 11 57 — 1160
1756
negotiates at Uxbridge, 1 1 70
Catholics, Roman, their position under
Eliza-
defeated at Xaseby, 1 1 71 — 1 1 73
beth, 761, 762, 774, 820
treaty with the Irish, 11 75
revolt, 773, 774
goes to Scotch camp, 1185
revival, 817 — 819, 969
sold to Parliament, 1 187
laws against them relaxed, 983
seized by army, 1 1 92
priests banished, 1336
flies, 1 1 94
prospects under Charles the Second, ij
63
prisoner, 1195
excluded from Indulgence, 1377
seized again, 1200
their hopes, 1403, 1404
trial, 1200, 1202
excluded from Parliament, 1407
death, 1202
admitted to office, &c., by James the Second,
Charles the Second proclaimed King in Scotland,
1453
1205
Confederate, 11 26, 11 50
negotiates with the Scots, 121 3
condition in Ireland, 1775
crowned at Scone, 1 2 1 7
struggles for emancipation, 1781 —
-1783,
defeated at Worcester, 1 218, 1219
1790— 1791, 1806, 1832— 1833
restored, 1277, 1278
Cato Street conspiracy, 1831
character, 1 35 1— 1356
"Cavaliers," 11 32
policy, 1356— 1358
Cavendish, Lord, 1381, 141 1, 1423; i^'^ Devon-
army, 136 1
shire
plans of Catholic toleration, 1361^1363
Cawnpore, massacre of, 1845
conversion, 1373
Caxton, William, 575—584
negotiates with Lewis, 1373 — 1375
Ceadda, Bishop of Mercia, 48, 49
relations with Parliament, 1381, 1394 — 1397,
Ceadwalla, King of Wessex, 67
1399, 1400
Ceawlin, King of Wessex, 20
relations with Lewis, 1398, 1403, 1409
Cecil, Robert, see Salisbury
plan for James's succession, 1416
Cecil, William, 756, 772, 774 ; see Burleigh
change in his temper, 1421
Centwine, King of Wessex, 66
treaty with France, 1427
Cenwealh, King of Wessex, 62
triuni])h over Country parly, 1427, 1428,
Cenwulf, King of Mercia, 82
1431— 1433
Ceolfrid, founder of Jarrow, 71
rule, 1435—1438
Ceolred, King of Mercia, 67, 69
death, 1441
Vol. I. pp. 1—468; Vol. II. |)ii. 469 — 931 : \'ol. IH. ]ip. 933—1409; Vol. I\'. pp. 1411- 1850.
i88:
INDEX
Charles the Great, 79, 80
Charles the Simple grants Normandy to Ilrolf, 135
Charles the Fifth, King of Spain, Emperor, &c.,
631, 638
alliance with Henry the Eighth, 638
breaks his pledges, 645
treaty with France, 649
Charles the Sixth, Emperor, 1593, 1603
Charles the Seventh, Emperor, 1621
Charles the Fifth, King of France, 447, 448
Charles the Sixth of P" ranee, 506, 518, 525, 534
Charles the Seventh of France, 534, 538, 541, 545
Charles the Eighth of France, 611
Charles the Tenth, King of France, 1835
Charles the Second, King of Spain, 1531, 1535
Charles the Third, King of Spain, 1557, 1562
Charles the Fourth, King of Spain, 1808
Charles the Twelfth, King of Sweden, 158S
Charlestown, capture of, 1707
Charmouth, battle of, 86
Charter of Henry the First, 168, 169
produced by Langton, 238
the Great, 240 — 243
re-issued, 245
confirmed by Henry the Third, 268, 276
confirmed by Edward the First, 395
the People's, 1837
of towns, cancelled by Charles the Second,
1437
Chateau-Gaillard, 215, 216, 219, 220
Chatham, Earl of (see Pitt), 1687, 1691, 1695,
1697, 1699, 1704 — 1707
Chaucer, 417 — 428
Caxton's edition of, 576
Cherbourg surrendered to Charles the Seventh, 545
Chester conquered by -P^thelfrith, 35
Danes at, 98
conquered by William, 153
blockaded, 1171
Chesterfield, Earl of, 1599, 1624
Chichester, Sir Arthur, 927
Chillingworth, William, theologian, 1307 — 13 10
China, war with, 1838
treaty, 1840
Chippewa, battle of, 1822
Chivalry, 347 — 350
Chotusitz, battle of, 1621
Christ Church, Oxford, 637
"Christian Brethren," the, 697
Chronicle, English, 97
its end, 229
Church, English, its foundation, 31 — 2iZ
in Northumbria, 41 — 52, 54 — 56
organized by Theodore, 57 — 59
condition under William the First, 158 — 161
under Rufus, 166 — 168
under Henry the First, 178 — 182
action during the anarchy, 195, 196
Henry the Second and, 201 — 204, 208
John and, 232 — 234
condition under John and Henry the Third,
279 — 282
under Edward the First, 326
in fourteenth century, 453 — 456
plans of reform in, 458 — 461
Church, English — continued.
political decline in fifteenth century, 530
condition after Wars of the Roses, 565 — 568
its reform undertaken by Parliament, 659
Henry the Eighth Head of, 662—666
its independent jurisdiction abolished, 664
T. Cromwell's dealings with, 666, 673
spoliation of, 694, 695
changes under Edward the Sixth, 711 — 715
submission to Rome, 722
Elizabeth and, 746 — 751
proposals in Parliament for its reform, 812
condition under Elizabeth, 814 — 816
parties in, 971—973
demand for its reform, 973
the Long Parliament and, 1129 — 1132
Cromwell's dealings with, 1254
condition under Charles the Second, 1328—
.^^^^^ .
bill for its security, 1400
James the Second"s dealings with, 1455 — 1463
temper after the Revolution, 1507 — 1509
condition under the Georges, 1608 — 1609
influence of Methodists on, 1618
Irish, its mission work, 41 — 43
condition under Henry the Eighth, 912 — 916
Protestant, disestablished, 1847, 1848
Scottish Presbyterian, 1085 — 1091, 1507
Church-rates abolished, 1848
Churchill, John, 1448, 1540, 1541. See Marl-
borough
Cintra, Convention of, 1809
Circuit, the Bloody, 1446 — 1447
Cistercians, 180
Ciudad Rodrigo stormed, 1818
Clair-sur-Epte, treaty of, 135
Clare, Earl of, settles in Pembroke, 312
Clarence, George, Duke of, 558, 559
Clarendon, Assize of, 210, 211
Constitutions of, 202 — 204, 208
Clarendon, Edward Hyde, Earl of [see Hyde),
Lord Chancellor, 1319
his policy, 1328
fall, 1366, 1367
Clarendon, Henry Hyde, Earl of, 1456, 1457
Claverhouse, 1494
Clement the Seventh, Pope, 647 — 649, 664
Clergy, representation of, in Parliament, 342 — 344
condition in fourteenth century, 454 — 456
submission to Henry the Eighth, 662
their enslavement, 671
position under Elizabeth, 748 — 751, 814, 815,
958—962
Puritan, expelled, 986
Laud's dealings with, 1057 — 1060
condition under the Georges, 1608, 1609
effect of Methodist revival on, 161 8
Cleveland, Barbara Palmer, Duchess oi{sce Castle-
maine), 1354
Cleves, Anne of, 689, 705
Clifford, Lord, 553
Clifford, Sir Thomas, 1372, 1375, 1377, 1379, 1381
Clive, Robert, 1629 — 1 631, 1647 — 1648, 1707 —
1709
Closter-Seven, Convention of, 1637
Vol. L pp. I — 468 ; Vol. H. pp. 469 — 931 ; Vol. HL pp. 933—1409 ; Vol. IV. pp. 141 1 — 1850.
INDEX
i88^
Cloth of Gold, Field of, 638
Constantine, King of Scots, 103
Cnichtenagild, in London, 181, 376
Constitutional Clubs, 1755
Cnut, King of Denmark and England, 122 — 127
Continental system. Napoleon's, 1792, 1S03
Cnut the Fourth, King of Denmark, 165
Contract, the Great, 990
Coal, discovery of its uses, 1729 — 1731
Convention of 1660, 1277
Coalition Ministry, 1556, 1722 — 1725
declares itself a Parliament, 1320
Cobham, Eleanor, 534
of 1688, 1487
Cobham, Lord (Sir John Oldcastle), 502, 516, 517
Constituent, 1234, 1235, 1239, 1240
Codrington, Admiral, 1832
Scottish, 1494
Coke, Sir Edward, 997, 998, 1037
Convocation, Colet's address to, 610
Colchester, siege of, 1197 — 1199
submits to Llenry the Eighth, 664
Coleman, secretary of Mary of Modena, 1404,
upholds Divine Right of Kings, 976
1405, 1409
its canons of 1604, 986
Colet, John, 596—599
suspended, 1608
dean of St. Paul's, 605
Cook, Captain, 1660
founds St. Paul's School, ib., 606
Cooper, Sir Ashley, 1271, 1273, 1276
his address to Convocation, 610
Chancellor of the Exchequer, 1320
charged with heresy, ib.
See Ashley, Shaftesbury
denounces war, 613
Coote, Eyre, 1707, 1711, 17 12
Colman, Bishop of Lindisfarne, 55, 56
Cope, Sir John, 1624
Columba, S., 43
Copenhagen, battle of, 1793
Commerce, Bolingbroke's proposed treaty of, 1571
bombardment of, 1806
Pitt's treaty with France, 1741
Copy-holders, 472
Commission, Ecclesiastical, under Elizabeth, 958,
Corn Laws, 1831, 1841 — 1843
960
Cornwall conquered Ijy Ecgberht, 82
abolished, 11 24
revolts, 86
restored, 1456
royalist rising in, 1146
Commons of Kent, their Complaint, 546 — 54S
Cornwall, Richard, Earl of, '290, 298
Commons summoned to Parliament, 300
Cornwallis, Lord, 1707, 171 2
House of, 445, 446
Coroners, 332
its struggle with Wolsey, 640, 641
Corresponding Society, 1765
Petition to Henry the Eighth, 657—659
Corunna, battle of, 1810
advance under Elizabeth, 80S — 813
Council, the Continual, 294, 389
under James the First, 1012 — 1015
Great, 212, 242, 329—331
struggle with Charles the First, 1029, 1030,
of Officers, 1208
1033— 1037, 1041, 1042, 1 1 17— 1 124
Royal, its criminal jurisdiction, 591
place in the constitution, 11 13
reorganized by Temple, 1414, 1415
proceedings in 1641-42, 1129 — 1136
Privy, 212
temper after the Revolution, 1509
of State, 1206
becomes supreme in the State, 1522
Country party, 1381, 1391, 1393, 1398, 1399
its relation to the Crown and the IMinistry,
County Court, the, 332, 333
1523— 1525
Courcy, John de, 899
Whig ascendency in, 1580 — 1582
Courtenay, Bishop of London, 460
character under George the Third, 1673 — 1676
Archbishop of Canterbury, 464, 504
struggle with Wilkes, 1678, 1689 — 1690
Courtenay, see Exeter
with the Press, 1690
Covenant, the Scottish, 1105, 1106
adopts Catholic emancipation, 1S17, 1835 ;
signed in London, 115 1
see Parliament
burnt there, 1328
Commonwealth established, 1206
abolished in Scotland, 1359
proclaimed, 1208
Coventry, Sir William, 1381
"Communes," 296, 383 — 385
Coverdale, Miles, 673
Compact, the Family, 1601
Cowell, his theory of absolutism, 976
Compiegne, its defence by Jeanne dWrc, 542
Cowper, William, Lord Keeper, 1556
Comprehension Bill, 1507
Craft-gilds, 380-381, 383-385
Compton, Bishop of London, 1456, 1479, 14S1
Craggs, Secretary of Stale, 1592
Compurgation abolished, 211
Cranfield, Treasurer, 1017 ; sec Middlesex
Comyn, regent of Scotland, 367
Cranmer, Thomas, his advice on llenry the
Comyn, the Red, slain, 404
Eighth's divorce, 659
Congregation, Lords of the, 756
Archbisho]) of Cantcrlniry, 664
Congregationalists, their rise, 1 1 78
divorces llenry and Catharine, //'., 665
Connecticut, origin of the settlement, I lOl
crowns Anne Holeyii, 665
f'onservatives, 1839
liis Protestantism, 71 I
Conservators of the Peace, 327
iiii])ris()ne(l, 719
Constable, Sir Robert, 685
his hfe and death, 728, 729
Constance (jf Jiriltany, 226
Creey, l)attle of, 436, 437
Vol. I. \i\\ I -468; Vol. II. pp. 469 93r ; \'..l. III. |ip. ^)},}, 1409; \ 111. I\'. p|i. i.jii 1850.
iSS4
INDEX
Crew, Chief Justice, 1030
Crimean war, 1S44
Crompton invents the '•mule," 1732
Cromwell, Henry, 1253
Cromwell, Oliver, his youth, 948, 949, 1 161
at Marston Moor, 1157
quarrel with Manchester, 1 160
his regiment, 1161 — 1166
scheme of New Model, 116S, 1 169
victory at Naseby, 1171 — 1173
advocates toleration, 11 82 — 11 85
defeats Scots, 1198
conquest of Ireland, 1209 — 121 3
victory at Dunbar, 1 213— 1 215
at Worcester, 12 18, 12 19
drives out the Rump, 1229— 123 1
his polic}-, 1235 — 1238
named Protector, 1241
his rule, 1243 — 1254
foreign policy, 1254 — 1261
settlement of Ireland, 1251 — 1253
refuses title of king, 1263
inaugurated as Protector, 1265
death, 1271
his corpse outraged, 1327
Cromwell, Richard, 1271
Cromwell, Thomas, 654
fidelity to Wolsey, ib., 656
counsel on the divorce, 657
policy, 661
Vicar-General, 666
dealings with the Church, 666 — 673, 700 —
705
his rule, 675 — 677
dealings with the nobles, 682 — 687
administrative activity, 687
fall, 689, 690
success of his jjolicy, 691, 692
his revival of Parliaments, 692
Crow land Abbey, 60
burnt by Danes, 87
Cuba, English conquest of, 1672
CuUoden Moor, battle of, 1626
Cumberland, Ernest, Duke of. King of Hanover,
1838
Cumberland granted to Constantine of Scotland,
103
Cumberland, William, Duke of, 1624, 1626, 1635
Cumbria, kingdom of, 34, 351
southern, conquered by Ecgfrith, 62
Cuthbert, S., 49—52, 63, 65
Cuthwulf, King of the West Saxons, 20
Cynric, 19, 20
Dacre, Lord, 682, 685
Dacres, Leonard, 773
Dsegsastan, battle of, 34
Danby, Thomas Osborne, Earl of, Lord Trea-
surer, 1397
_ his policy, 1397— 1403
fall, 1409
correspondence with William, 1479, 1481
prepares for a rising, 1485, i486
Lord President, 1509
Danegeld, 184
Danelaw, the, 89
conquest of, 99 — loi
revolts, 103, 106
submits to Swein, 1 1 7
Danes attack Britain, 87
conquer East Anglia, ib.
attack Wessex, 88
struggle with /Elfred, ib., 89, 93, 98, 99
treaties with him, 89, 93
routed by Eadward and /Ethelred, 98
defeated at Brunanburh, 103
massacre of, 1 1 6
conquer England, 117, 122
their settlements in Ireland, 894
Daniel, poet and historian, 801
Darcy, Lord, 685
Darnley, Henry Stuart, Lord, 716, 764 — 768
David Bruce ; see Bruce
David, King of Scots, 357, 358
David, Prince of Wales, 320
Davies, Sir John, 1094
Deane, (jeneral, 1249
"Defenders," Irish, 1784
Deira, kingdom of, 23, 29
Deorham, battle of, 20
Derby, Edward Stanley, Earl of, 1844, 1846, 1847
Derby, Ferrars, Earl of, 209
Derby, Henry of Lancaster, Earl of, 506 — 510 ;
see Henry the Fourth
Dermod, King of Leinster, 897, 898
Desmond, Earls of, 903, 923
Despensers, the, 400 — 402
Dettingen, battle of, 1622
Devonshire, Earl of {see Cavendish) 1481, 1485,
i486
Digby, Lord, 11 17
Digges, Sir Dudley, 1 029, 1030
Directory, the trench, 1767
Disraeli, Benjamin, 1847, 1850
Dissidence, its growth, 1182
Domesday Book, 158
Dominic, S., 282
Dominicans, see Friars
Donne, 1094
Dorchester, first West-Saxon see, 44
Dorset, Sackville, Earl of, 860
Douglas, James, 407
Dover besieged by Lewis of France, 246
treaty of, 1375
Dowdall, Archbishop of Armagh, 916
Drake, Francis, 829 — 832, 835, 837, 841, 843, 889
Drama, see Literature
Dreux, battle of, 761
Drogheda, storm of, 1209 — 121 1
Dryden, 1301, 1370, 1383
Dublin besieged by Ormond, 1209
Dudley, Guildford, 717, 720
Dudley, minister of Henry the Seventh, 605
Dumbarton taken by Eadberht, 74
Dunbar, battle of, 1213 — 1215
Duncan, Admiral, 1771
Dundas, Henry, 1799
Dundee, John Graham of Claverhouse, Viscount,
1494— 1496
Vol. I. pp. I — 468; Vol. II. pp. 469 — 931 ; Vol. HI. pp. 933—1409; Vol. IV. pp. 1411 — 1850.
INDEX
1885
Dunedin, 352
Dunes, battle of the, 1269
Dunkirk ceded to England, 1269
sold to France, 1366
Duns Scotus, 287
Dunstan, S., 103 — 106
his administration, 106 — loS, 113
death, 114
Dupleix, his designs in India, 1629 — 1631
Duquesne, Fort, 1633, 1652
Durham, historians of, 222
DyTOaint, 78
Eadberht, King of Xorthumbria, 74, 75
Eadgar, King of England, 107, 108, 113
his Law, iio, 123
Eadgar, King of Scots, 168
Eadgar, the /Etheling, 149, 150, 152, 168
Eadmer, 222
Eadmund, King of Wessex, 103, 104, 106
grants Strathclyde to Malcolm, 355
Eadmund Ironside, 122
Eadmund, S., of East Anglia, 87
Eadred, King of Wessex, 106
Eadric of Mercia, 122
Eadward the Confessor, 129 — 133
his promise to William, 144
his Laws, 129
Eadward the Elder, King of Wessex, 99 — loi
Eadward the Martyr, 113
Eadwig, brother of Eadmund Ironside, 122
Eadwig, King of Wessex, 106, 107
Eadwine, Earl of Mercia, 133, 149, 150, 152,
Eadwine, King of Northumbria, 35 — 39
Ealdhelm, Bishop of Sherborne, 67
Ealdormen, 26
Ealdred, Archbishop of York, 150
Ealhstan, Bishop of Sherborne, 87
Earldoms created by Cnut, 123
Ebbsfleet, 12, 13, ^^
Ecgberht, Archbishop of York, 74
Ecgberht of Wosex, 78, 79, 82, 83, 86
Ecgfrith, King of Northumbria, 62 — 65, 352, 353
Ecgwine, Bishop of Worcester, 60
Edgehili, battle of, 1142, 1143
Edinburgh, its origin, 38, 352
capital of Scot Kings, 355, 357
English troops at, 505
Edmbitvi^h Review, 1816
Edington, battle of, 89
Edith, see Matilda
Edmund Rich, 256, 257
reads Aristotle at Oxford, 261
Archbishop of Canterbury, 275
exile, 276
Edmund, son of Henry the Third, 292
Education, national, its beginnings, 1836
Committee of, ih.
School Boards, 1849 ; see Literature, Schools
Edward the First, his motto, 291
defeated by Llewelyn, 292
faithful to the Provisions of Oxfijrd, 294
surrenders at Lewes, 298
Edward the First — continued.
escapes, 302
takes Gloucester, ih.
victory at Evesham, 302 — 304
character, 318, 319, 345—351
crusade, 319
conquers Wales, 320 — 322
his policy, 322
judicial reforms, 324 — 326
legislation, 326 — 328
social changes under, 329, 331, 335, 386, 387
first conquest of Scotland, 359 — 364
second, 364 — 36S
struggle with barons, 389—391, 394, 395
expels Jews, 393
dealings with clergy, 394
war with P" ranee, ib.
confirms Charters, 395
death, 395, 406
Edward the Second, King, 395
struggle with Lords Ordainers, 398 — 400
defeated at Bannockburn, 408
truce with Scotland, 409
deposed and murdered, 402, 403
Edward the Third proclaimed King, 403
arrests Mortimer, 411
struggle with Scotland, 412, 413
quarrel with France, 430, 431
alliance with Flanders, 431, 433, 434
with German princes, 432
war with France, 434 — 444
loses Aquitaine, 448
death, 485
Edward the Fourth, sec March
victor at Towton, 554
King, ib.
marriage, 557, 558
struggle with Warwick, flight and return,
558, 559
final success, 560
character, 569
policy, 569—571
]:)atron of Caxton, 571, 582
death, 584
Edward the Fifth, 5S4
More's Life of, 622
Edward the Sixth, King, 709
proposal for his marriage, 755
his Grammar Schools, 715
his " plan " for the succession, 716
death, 717
Edward the Black Prince at Crecy, 436, 437
plunders Clascony, 441
victory at Poitiers, 442, 443
expedition to Spain, 447
sacks Limoges, 448
death, 451
Egypt conquered by Buonaparte, 1773
French withdraw from, 1793
" Eikon iiasilike,"' 1207
Eldon, Lord Chancclli)r, 1832
Eleanor of Poitou, wife of Henry the Second,
196, 199, 218, 220
Eleanor of Provence, wife of FKnry the Tliird,
272, 296, 300, 301
Vol. I. pp. 1—468; Vol. H. pj). 469 -931 ; \'ol. IH. pp. 933—1409; Veil. I\'. pp. 141 1 i,S5o.
1 886
INDEX
Eleanor, sister of Henry the Third, marries
Simon de Mont fort, 290
Eliot, Sir John, 1025 — 1027
attacks Buckingham, 1029
arrested, 1030
moves Remonstrance, 1037
speeches in Parliament, 1039, 1041
death, 1068
Eliott, (Jeneral, 1707, 1 71 7
Elizabeth, daughter of Edward the Fourth,
585 ^ „
marries Henry the Seventh, 587
Elizabeth, daughter of Henry the Eighth,
709
her Greek-scholarship, 616
accession, 731
character, 733 — 746
Church policy, 746—751- 953
dealings with Scotland, 755, 756
with Huguenots, 761
with Roman Catholics, 757, 761, 762, 774,
818-822, 833
troubles with Mary Stuart and the Parlia-
ment, 766
with Mary and Alva, 770, 771
Catholic revolt and Bull of Deposition
against her, 772 — 774
relations with Parliament, 808 — 813, 981 —
983
plans for her marriage, 828
policy in Ireland, 919 — 925
death, 931
Elizabeth, daughter of James the First, 1002
Elizabeth, Empress of Russia, 1634, 1672
Ellandun, battle of, 82
Ely, foundation of, 60
burnt by Danes, 87
surrendered to William, 153, 154
Emma, wife of .Ethelred the Second, 116, 144
Empson, minister of Henry the Seventh, 605
l-"nclosures, riots against, 568
England, the making of, 12 — 83
intercourse with the Franks, 78 — 80
Danish conquest of, 114— 117, 122
condition under Cnut, 122 — 127
relations with Normandy, 144
conquered by William, 149 — 154
immigration from the Continent into, 170,
171
condition under Stephen, 195
under Interdict, 233
agrarian discontent in, 480, 482—484, 568,
641 — 644
Commines' account of, 561, 562
New Learning in, 593 — 620
effects of Wolsey's administration in, 633 —
638
change in attitude towards Rome, 663 — 664
industrial progress under Edward the First,
386, 387
social condition in the sixth century, 24 — 28
in tenth and eleventh centuries, in, 112
under the Edwards, 328, 331, 386, 387,
415—417, 428—430, 456
in fourteenth century, 470 — 484, 497 — 502
England — continued.
in fifteenth century, 527 — 534
during Wars of the Roses, 561 — 563
after, 563—569
under F.li/.alieth, 778—796
in Puritan time, 937 — 944, 948
modern, its beginning, 1286
joins Triple Alliance, 1370
position in Grand Alliance, 1492
new ])osition under House of Hanover, 1577
1578
growth of trade and wealth, 1595
society in, under the Georges, 1609 — 1611
lihilanthro])ic revival in, 1618, 1619
alliance with Prussia, 1634
its place in the world, 1659, 17 18, 17 19
relations with America, 1664, 1665, 1680 —
1682, 1694 — 1699, 1705, 1717, 1814, 1821,
1822
industrial ])rogress in eighteenth century,
1727— 1732
condition compared with the Continent, 1743
attitude towards French revolution, 1750,
1751
efforts of revolutionists in, 1755
panic in, 1763 — 1765
colonial gains, 1769
successes at sea, 1771 — 1773
northern league against, 1792
declares war with Buonaparte, 1797
condition during French war, 1815, 1816
after, 1829 — 1831
severed from Hanover, 1 838
England, New, 1043 — 1053, 1065
return of Independents from, 1 178
its four States, 1661
its schools, 1663
England, Old, i, 2
Engle, their Sleswick home, i, 2
settle in East Anglia, 19
conquer Mid-Britain and the North, 22, 23
English, Middle, 22
English people, their life in the older England,
their religion, 7> 8
conquer Britain, 10 — 23
their settlement, 24 — 26
significance of their history, 1719 ; see Eng-
land
Eorls, 6
Episcopacy abolished in Scotland, 10S9
restored, ib.
demand for its abolition in England, 11 32
Erasmus, 599 — 601, 604
his edition of S. Jerome, 602, 6x6
" Praise of Folly," 605, 622
denounces the war, 613, 614
his Greek Testament, 618
his theology, 618—620
Essex, Countess of, 999, looi
Essex, Earl of, Elizabeth's favourite, 873, 925,
929
Essex, Earl of, commander of Parliamentary
army, 1141 — 1143, 1146, 114S
relieves Gloucester, 1149
Vol. I. pp. 1—468; Vol. II. pp. 469—931 ; Vol. III. pp. 933—1409 ; '^'ol- I^'- PP- 1411—1850-
INDEX
1887
Essex, Earl of — continued.
Fitz-Thomas, Thomas, mayor of London, 383
defeated in Cornwall, 1157
Fitz-Urse, Reginald, 206, 207
resigns his command, 1168
Fitz-Walter, Robert, 239, 246
Essex, Earl of, minister of Charles the
Second,
Fitz-Warenne, Fulk, 276, 277
1412, 1418, 1423, 1431, 1432
Five Boroughs, 92, 99
Essex, Henry of, 313
Flamsteed, astronomer, 1303
Euphuism, 801, 802
Flanders, its relations with England, 431,
433,
Eustace the Monk, 246
434, 787
Evesham, its origin, 60
English Gild of Merchant Adventurers in
, 575
battle of, 302 — 304
occupied by the French, 1369
Exchange, the Royal, 786
delivered by Marlborough, 1558
Exchequer, Court of, 184, 212
Flemings in Pembroke, 312, 314
Richard Eitz-Xeal's treatise on, 224
under Edward the Third, 433
closed, 1377
Fletcher, Phineas and Giles, 1094
Excise Bill, WalpoIe"s, 1594, 1597
Fleurus, battles of, 1 5 16, 1767
Pitt's, 1737
Flodden, battle of, 755
Exclusion Bill, 1415, 1416, 1424, 1425
Flood, Irish leader, 1714
Exeter, Courtenay, Marquis of, 687
Florida ceded to England, 1672
Exeter, Danes in, 89
restored to Spain, 171 7
revolts against the Conqueror, 152
Fontenoy, battle of, 1624
Eylau, battle of, 1806
Fortescue, Sir John, his definition of Er
kingship, 562
Fort William (Calcutta), its origin, 1629
glish
Faddiley, battle of, 29
Fourmigny, battle of, 545
Fairfax, Lord. 1145
Fox, Bishop of Winchester, 609, 620, 633
Fairfax, Sir Thomas, I153, 1155, 116S, I169,
Fox, Charles, 1721, 1722
I197, II99, 1200, 1276
his India Bill, 1725
Falkirk, battles of, 366, 3&7, 1626
supports Regency of Prince of Wales, 1 748
Falkland, Viscount, 1127
attitude towards Revolution, 1747, 1753
his demands of Church reform, 1 130
his Libel Act, 1753
leaves Parliament and joins Charles,
1 139
Burke's quarrel with, ib.
death, 1149
forsaken by the Whigs, 1763
his philosophy, 1293, 1306
returns to office, 1803
Farmers, their rise, 473
death, ih.
Fastolfe, Sir John, 539, 582
Foxe, John, his " Book of Martyrs," 816
Fawkes, Guido, 987
France, William the First and, 165
Felton, John, 1038, 1039
Edward the Third and, 430 — /\/\^
Ferdinand the Catholic, King of Arag
on, 611,
alliance with the Scots, 505
612
truce with Richard the Second, 506
Ferdinand the Seventh, King of Spain, i
808
Henry the Fifth and, 51S — 525
Ferozeshah, battle of, 1841
struggle against Bedford, 534 — 543
Ferrar, Bishop of St. David's, 727
English expelled from, 545
Feudalism, its growth under the Conqueror, 154
relations with Italy, 61 1
-158
with Henry the Eighth, Spain, and
the
its ruin, 438
Empire, ib., 612, 613, 633, 638, 640,
645.
Fifth-Monarchy men, 1361
649
Finch, Chief Justice, 1105
civil wars in, 757, 761, 762, 770, 826,889-
-891
Lord Keeper, 11 19
relations with England and Holland, i "
63-
First of June, battle of, 1767 — 1769
1366
Fisher, Bishop of Rochester, supports the
New
Family Compact with Spain, 1601
Learning, 608
alliance with Prussia, 1623
patron of Erasmus, 620
designs in India and America, 1628 — 16
ll
his reply to Luther, 633
withdraws thence, 1672
opposes Henry the Eighth's divorce,
647
alliance with United States, 1 705, 1746,
1747
imprisoned, 678
Pitt's treaty of commerce with, 1739
death, 681
condition in eighteenth century, 1745, i;
46
Fitzgerald, Lord Thomas, 906
revolution in, 1747, 1749. 175'!, 1756— 1
759
Fitzgerald, Maurice, 897
declares war on the Enqieror, 1756
Fitz-Hamo, Robert, 312
on Holland, 1759
?'itzharris, his impeachment, 1427
on England, 1761
Fitz-Neal, Richard, his dialogue on
the Ex-
insurrections in, 1765, 1766
chefjuer, 224
struggle against Europe, 17C6, 1767
Fitz-Osbern, William, 150, 152
conciuers Holland, 1767
Fitz-Peter, (ieoffrey, Justiciar, 238
Directory in, //'.
Fitz-Stephen, Robert, 897
conquests in Italy, 1709—1771
Vol. I. ])]). 1—468-, \'ol. II. pp. 469—931 ; Vol. HI. i)p. 933—1409; Vol. IV. pp. 1411 — 1850.
i888
INDEX
France — continued.
Consulate, 1774
Buonaparte's rule in, 1797
revolution of 1830, 1835
Franchise, Parliamentary, restricted under Henry
the Sixth, 527—529
the forty shilling, 529
extension in 1S32, 1835
in 1867, 1846
Francis, S., of Assisi, 282
Francis the First, King of France, conquers
Lomhardy, 633
meeting with Henry the Eighth, 638
prisoner, 644
released, 646
Francis the Second, King of France, 755 — 757
Franciscans, sec Friars
Franklin, Benjamin, 16S1
Frank-pledge, 373
Franks, their intercourse with England, 78 — So
Frederick, Elector Palatine, 1002, 1005, 1007,
1019
Frederick, Prince of Wales, 1603
Frederick the Second, King of Prussia, 1603,
1605
victory at Chotusitz, 1 621
alliance with France, 1623
seizes Prague, ib.
drives Austrians from Silesia, 1624
treaty with England, 1634
seizes Dresden, 1635
victory at Prague and defeat at Kolin, ib.
victories at Rossbach, Leuthen, and Zom-
dorf, 1649
defeats in 1759, ib., 1650
successes in 1760, 1669
share in partition of Poland, 1748
death, ib.
Friars, the, 282—288
Frideswide, S., Priory of, at Oxford, 250, 252
Friedland, battle of, 1806
Frith-Gilds, 372 — 374
Frobisher, Martin, 839, 1044
Fuentes d'Onore, battle of, 1813
Fulk of Jerusalem, Count of Anjou, 190
Fulk the Black, Count of Anjou, 1S8, 190
Fulk the Good, Count of Anjou, 186
Fulk the Red, Count of Anjou, 186
Gage, General, 1697
Gaimar, 226
Galen, Linacre's translation of, 596
Gardiner, Bishop of Winchester, 6S9, 709 719,
722
Garnet, Jesuit, 987
Gauden, Dr., 1207
Gaunt, Elizabeth, 1447
Gaunt, John of, Duke of Lancaster, invades
France, 448
struggle with Parliament, 449 — 451
supports Wyclif, 458, 460
turns against him, 463, 466
expedition to Spain, 505, 506
driven from power, ib.
Gavel-kind, 476
Gaveston, Piers, 397 — 399
Geoffry Grey-gown, Count of Anjou, 18S
Geoffry Martel, Count of Anjou, 141. 142, 190
Geoffry Plantagenet, Count of Anjou, 191, 192,
196
Geoffry, son of Henry the Second. 209, 212, 226
George the First, King, 1576, 1579, 1588
George the Second, King [see Cambridge), 1579.
1596, 1622, 1665
George the Third, King, 1665 — 1667
his " friends," 1668
supports Whigs against Pitt, //'. , 167 1
his home policy, 1672, 1673
dealings with the Commons, 1675, 1676
with the Whigs, 1676
with Pitt, 1677
his personal administration, 1696
dealings with America, 1694 — 1697
madness, 1748, 1817
refuses Catholic emancipation, 1791
death, 183 1
George (the Fourth), Prince of Wales, Regent,
1748, 1817
King, 1831
death, 1835
Georgia colonised, 1662
Gerald de Barri, 224, 253
Geraldines, the, 906
Gewissas, 19
Gibraltar, sieges of, 1594, 1707, 1717
Gilbert discovers terrestrial magnetism, 1296
Gilbert, Sir Humphry, 1045
Gildas, 23
Gilds, 175, 372—381
Ginkell, General, 15 16
Giraldus Cambrensis, see Gerald
Gladstone, Mr., 1847, 1850
Glamorgan, conquest of, 312
Glanvill, Ralph, 209
his treatise on law, 226
Glastonbury, 67
Arthur's tomb at, 226, 317
Glencoe, massacre of, 1497, 1498
Glendower, see Glyndwr
Gloucester, Duke of, son of Edward the Third,
506, 507
Gloucester, Eleanor Cobham, Duchess of, 534
Ciloucester, Gilbert, Earl of, 298, 301
Gloucester, Humphry, Duke of, 535, 536, 543,
545
his library, 582
Gloucester, Richard, Duke of, see Richard the
Third
Gloucester, Richard, Earl of, 293, 294, 296
Gloucester, Robert, Earl of, 193
Gloucester, siege of, 1149
Glyndwr, Owen, 515, 516
Goderich, Lord, 1832
Godfrey, Sir Edmondsbury, 1405, 1406
Godolphin, Earl of, 1533, 1545, 1569
Godwine, Earl of Wessex, 128, 130
exiled, 131
returns and dies, ib
"Goliath, Bishop," 228
Vol. L pp. I — 468 ; Vol. II. pp. 469 — 931 ; Vol. HI. pp. 933 — 1409 ; Vol. IV. pp. 141 1 — 1850.
INDEX
1889
Gondomar, Count of, loii, 1013
Goodrich, Bishop of Ely, 700
Goojerat, battle of, 1844
Government, Act of, 1265
Instrument of, 1240, 1243, 1245
Gower, poet, 572
Caxton's edition of, 576
Grafton, Duke of, 1687, 1696
Granville, Earl, 1623 ; sdc Carteret
Grattan, 1 714, 1781
Greek, revived study of, 595, 596
Greene, Robert, 805, S62, S63, 868
Greenvil, Sir Bevil, 1146
Greenway, Jesuit, 987
Greenwich Observatory founded, 1303
Gregory the Great, Pope, 31
Alfred's translation of his Pastoral, 97
Grenville, George, his ministry, 1676 — 1681
Grenville, Lord, 1803 — 1805
Gresham, Sir Thomas, 786
Grey, Earl, 1835
Grey, Elizabeth, wife of Edward the Fourth, 558
Grey, John de. Bishop of Norwich, 232
Grey, Lady Jane, 717, 718, 720
Grey, Lord, Deputy in Ireland, 847, 923
Grey, Lord Leonard, 907
Grey, Sir Richard, 584
Grew, physiologist, 1304 .
Grindecobbe, William, 488, 491
Grocyn, 596, 599, 601
Grosseteste, Robert, Bishop of Lincoln, 264, 275,
282, 286, 288
Gruffydd, Prince of Wales, 311
Guienne, struggle of Edward the First and Philip
the Sixth for, 430
lost to England, 545
Guiscard, Robert, 138
Guise, Mary of, Regent of Scotland, 755
Guises, the, 757, 761, 762, 826
Guisnes lost to England, 731
Gunhild, sister of Swein, 116
Gunpowder, effect of its introduction, 589
Gunpowder Plot, 986, 987
Gustavus Adolphus, 1069, 1070
Guthlac, S., 60
Guthrum, King of East Anglia, 88
treaties with yElfred, 89, 93
Gwynn, Nell, 1354
f}yrth, son of Godwine, 148
Gyrwas, 22
Hadrian the Fourth, Pope, 897
Hainault, Jacqueline, Countess of, 535
Hale, Sir Matthew, 1222, 1235, 1317, 1326
Hales, John, leader of Peasant Revolt, 487
Hales, John, theologian, 1307, 1310
Hales, Sir Edward, 1453
Halidon Hill, battle of, 412
Halifax (Nova Scotia) founded, 1633
Halifax, Savile, Viscount, 1412, 141O, 1418, 1424,
1425, 1427, 1428, 1453, 1477
share in the Revolution, 1489, 1491
Privy Seal, 151 1
Hall, Bishop and satirist, 1094
Halley, astronomer, 1303
Hamilton, Marquis and Duke of, 1106, 1 198,
1207
Hamilton, second Duke of, 121 7, 121 9
Hampden, John, resists a forced loan, 1031
refuses ship-money, iioi
trial, 1103 — 1 105
judgement annulled, 11 19
charged with treason, 1 133
death, 1 148
Hampton Court Conference, 980
Hanover, Convention of, 1627
House of, 1539, 1578, 1579
severed from England, 1838
Harald Hardrada, King of Norway, 146
Harald, King of England, 127
Hardwicke, Lord Chancellor, 1599
Harfleur taken by Henry the Fifth, 520
Hargreaves, inventor of spinning-jenny, 1 732
Harlaw, battle of, 752
Harley, Robert, 1556
intrigues against Marlborough, 1563, 1568
rivalry with Bolingbroke, 1571 — 1573
countenances South Sea Company, 1590 ; see
Oxford
Harold, son of Godwine, 130
his administration, 131 — 133
W^elsh campaign, 311
Ki"g' ^^^
his oath to William, 144
struggle with Harald Hardrada and William.
146
death, 149
Harthacnut, King of England, 127, 128
Harvey discovers circulation of the l)lood, 1296
Haselrig, one of the five members, 1 1 33, 1222,
1242, 1269, 1275
Hasting, 98
Hastings, battle of, 148, 149
Hastings, John, claims Scottish throne, 361
Hastings, Lord, minister of Edward the Fourth.
584
Hastings, Warren, 1709 — 1712, 1740, 1741
Hatfield, battle of, 39
Havelock, Sir Henry, 1845
Hawke, Admiral, 165 1
Hawkins, John, 789, 839
Hawley, General, 1626
Heaven's Field, battle of, 41
Hengest, 12
Hengest-dun, battle of, 86
Henrietta Maria, wife of Charles the First, 1023
Henry the First, his accession, charter, and
marriage, 168 — 1 70
sup]5resses revolt, 182
conquers Normandy, 183
his administration, 183, 184
struggle with Anjou, 185, 190
death, 192
]ialace of Beaumonl, 252
dealings with \\'ales, 312
Henry the Second, his marriage and accession,
196, 197
])erson and character, 197 199
policy, 199
Vol. I. pp. 1—468 : Vol H. i-p. 469—931 ; \ol. 111. i-p. 933—1409; Vol. l\. pp. 1411 — 1S50.
INDEX
Henry the Second — continued.
Henry the Eighth — continued.
relations with France, 199
war with France, 612
Church policy, 201
education of his children, 616
cjuarrel with Beket, 202 — 207
his "Assertion of the Seven Sacraments,"
war of Toulouse, 199
632
crowning of his eldest son, 204
treaty with France, 633
revolts against, 209, 212
seeks Imperial crown, 638
penance, 209
meets Francis, ib.
legal reforms, 20S — 211
alliance with Charles the Fifth, ih., 640
death, 213
withdraws from the war, 645
visit to Glastonbury, 226, 317
proceedings for divorce, 646 — 649, 659,
664
dealings with Wales, 313
promises a translation of the Bible, 659
with Scotland, 359
" Head of the Church," 662, 666
with Ireland, 895—899
marries Anne Boleyn, 665
I lenry the Third, crowned, 245
Jane Seymour, 689
confirms charter, 268, 275
Anne of Cieves, ib.
quarrel with Hubert de Burgh, 26S— 271
Catharine Howard, 705
character and policy, 271, 272
death, 709
marriage, 272
his will, ih., 716
misrule, 272 — 275
dealings with Ireland, 906 — 915
expedition to Poitou, 276
Henry, King of Navarre (Henry the Fourth of
quarrel with Simon do Montfort, 289, 290
France), 832, 889 — 891, 971
with the barons, 292, 293
Henry of Blois, Bishop of Winchester, 195,
196
his English proclamation, 294
Henry, son of Henry the Second, 204, 205
209,
treaties with France and Wales, ib.
212
war with the barons, 296 — 304
Herbert, Admiral, 1481; .ftv Torrington
death, 319
Herbert, George, 972, 1094
Henry the P'ourth, see Derby
Hereward, 153
king, 512
Herford, Nicholas, 461, 465, 468
relations with Parliament, 513
Herlouin of Brionne, 136
suppresses LoUardry, 514
Herrick, 1094
revolts against him, 514 — 516
Herrings, battle of the, 539
death, 516
Hertford, Earl of, 709, 711. See Somerset
Henry the Fifth, King, 516
Hexham, battle of, 555
war with France, 518 — 521
historians of, 222
conquers Normandy, 522—524
Highlands subdued by Monk, 1249
marriage, 525
conquest of, 1627
treaty with France, ih.
Hild, abbess of Whitby, 52
death,.//'.
Hilsey, Bishop of Rochester, 700
Regency nominated by him, 535
History, English, its beginning, 73, 98
Henry the Sixth, his minority, 527, 530
under yElfred, 97
crowned at Paris, 543
its significance, 1719
marriage, 545
Hobbes, Thomas, 1293, 1310— 1314
loses Normandy and Guienne, ih.
Hochkirch, battle of, 1649
birth of his son, 548
Hohenfriedburg, battle of, 1624
idiocy, 549
Hohenlinden, battle of, 1775
prisoner, 550
Holland, its relations with England and France,
deposed, 554
1215, 1223— 1225, 1345— 1349, 1366,
1369,
flies to Scotland, ib.
1370, 1377, 1379, 1395, 1473, 1767
prisoner, 555
Holland, Jacqueline, Countess of, 535
restored, 559
Holies, one of the five members, 11 33,
1 1 86,
dies, 560
1 188, 1 192
his library, 582
Homilies, Book of, 714
Henry the Seventh, see Richmond
Hooke, microscopist, 1303
king, 587
Hooker, Richard, 955 — 957
marriage, ib.
Hooper, Bishop of Gloucester, 715, 727
revolts against him, ih.
Hopton, Sir Ralph, 1146
title to the throne, 589
Horsa, 12, 15
his policy,. 589 — 592
Florsted, 15
character, 592
Hotham, Sir John, 1 1 39
patron of Caxton, 582
Hotspur, 514
dealings with Ireland, 904
Hough, President of Magdalen College, 0'
vford.
Henry the Eighth, his accession, 605
1459
person, ib.
Hounslow, camp at, 1453
marries Catharine of Aragon, 611
Howard, Catharine, 705, 709
Vol. I. pp. 1—468 ; Vol. II. pp. 469-931 ; Vol. III. pp. 933—1409 ; Vol. IV. pp. 141 1 — 1850.
INDEX
1S91
Howard, John, 1619 — 1621
Howard of Effingham, Lord, 837
Howden, Roger of, 223
Howe, General, 1702 — 1704
Howe, Lord, 1767
Howel Dda, Laws of, 309
Hrolf the Ganger, 135
Hubert de Burgh, sea Burgh
Hubertsberg, Treaty of, 1672
Hubert WaUer, Archbishop of Canterbury, 213,
232, 383
Huddleston, Catholic priest, 1441
Huguenots, 757, 761, 762, 825, 826
in England, 145 1
Humbert, General, 1773, 1785
Hundred Years' War, its origin, 430, 431
change in its character, 518
its effect on England, 531
its end, 545
Huntingdon, Henry of, 222
Huskisson, Mr., 1832
Hussey, Lord, 682, 6S5
Hutchinson, Colonel, 941 — 943
Hyde, Anne, 1366, 1456
Hyde, Edward, 1127, 1136, 1 139. 6'tv Clarendon
Hyder Ali, 1712
Ida founds kingdom of Bernicia, 23
Impositions of James the First, 989, 990
Income-tax, 1839
Indemnity, Bill of, 15 1 1, 15 1 2
Independence, Declaration of, 1703
Independents, 11 78 — 11 79
India, English and Portuguese in, 162S, 1629
French in, 1629 — 1631
Clive's victories in, 1631, 1647, 164S
French withdraw from, 1672
Clive's rule in, 1708, 1709
Regulating Act, 1709
condition under Hastings, 1709 — 1712
Fox's India Bill, 1725
Pitt's, 1740
Mutiny in, 1845
transferred to the Crown, if>.
India Company, East, 789, 790, 1629, 1 707 —
1709, 1836, 1845
Indies, West, acquired by England, 1769
Indulgence, Declarations of, 1336, 1377, 1381,
1458, 1461
Ine, king of Wessex, 67, 68
Ingelger, 186
Inkerman, battle of, i8.;4
Innocent HI., Pope, 232, 234, 244
Instrument of Government, 1 240, 1243, 1245,
1265
Interdict in England, 233
Inverlochy, battle of, 11 71
lona, 43
Ipswicli, Wolsey's school at, 635
Ireland attacked by I-xgfrith, 64
condition in twelfth century, 891 — 895
its concjucst, 897 — 899
John in, 899, 901
Richard the Second in, 506, 508, 904
Ireland — contiitned
Henry the Seventh's policy in. 904
Henry the Eighth's, 905 — 915
English colonization under Mary, 917 — 919
revolts against Elizabeth, 919 — 926
colonization of Ulster, 927
W^ent worth in, 1081 — 1084
revolt, 1 125, 1 126
Cromwell's conquest of, 1209 — 1213
settlement, 1 251 — 1253
James the Second's dealings with, 1455,
" 1498, 1499, 1503
rising in, 1500 — 1501
William's campaign in, 1514, 1515
Marlborough's, 1515, 1516
first union with England, 1223. 1253
dissolved, 1358, 1359
demands of the volunteers, 1714
made independent, ib., 1780
condition v.nder the Georges, 1738, 1775 —
1779
Pitt's dealings with, 1739, 1782. 1783
efforts of French revolutionists in. 1757
revolt of 1798, 1773, 1785
union with England, 1786
agitation for repeal, 1837
rising of Smith O'Brien, 1843
Mr. Gladstone's dealings with, 1847, 1848
Ireton, General, 1190, 1193, 1251, 1327
Irishmen, United, 1757, 1783, 1784
Iron-trade, 1729 — 1731
Isabella of Angouleme, wife of King John, 274
Isabella of France, wife of Edward the Second,
401, 402, 434. 435
Isabella of France, wife of Richard the Second. 506
Italy, its influence on English literature, 798, Soi,
805
Jacobites, 1511, 1517, 1519
revolt, 1585, 1586, 1624— 1627
decline, 1668
Jamaica, English conquest of, 1261
James the Fir>t, King of Scotland, 752
James the Fourth, King of Scotland, 716, 755
James the Fifth, King of Scotland, 755
James the Sixth of Scotland (First of England),
his birth, 766
crowned, 770
struggles with Presbyterianism, 108S. 1089
person and character, 974
theory of monarchy, 974 — 976
of ecclesiastical supremacy, 979, 980
at Hampton Court Conference, 980
relaxes ]K'nal laws, 983
jirojooses union v\ ith .Scotland, 984
Jiis imjiositions, 989, 990
despotism, 995 — 998
Court and favourites, 998 — 1002
foreign jiolicy, 983, 1002—1007, loii
tears out Protestation of Parliament, 1013
death, 1 023
James the Second, sec York
King, 1442
revolts against, 1445 — 1447
Vol. I. pp. 1—468 ; Vol. H. pj). 469 — 931 ; \ol HI. pj). 933—1409 ; \'nl. IV. pp. 1411— 1S50.
Vol.. IV— Part 40 (. I
1892
INDEX
James the Second — continued.
Kknneth MacAlpin, King of Picts
and Scots,
his vengeance, 1446, 1447
353
increases the army, 1449
Kent, English conquest of, 15 — 17
alliance with France, ih.
kingdom of, 26
dispenses with Test Act, 1453
greatness under ^Ethelberht, 30
dealings with Scotland, 1455
conversion, 31 — 34
struggle with English Churchmen, 1456, 1457
fall, 34
tries to win Nonconformists, 145S
subject to Mercia, 66, 76
attacks Universities, 1459
John Ball in, 483
struggle with clergy and Bishops, 1461 — 1463
revolts in, 4S6, 487, 546 — 548
birth of his son, 1 481
Complaint of Commons of, 546 —
548
deserted, 14S2, i486
Kent, Edward, Duke of, 1838
flight, 14S7
Kent, Earl of, beheaded, 411
goes to St. Germain, 1492
Kotel of S. Edmundsbury, 178
dealings with Ireland, 1455, 1498 — 1503,
Kildare, Earl of, Lord Deputy of Ireland, 904,
1511 — 1514
906
death, 1538
Kilkenny, Statute of, 903
Jarrow, 71
Killiekrankie, battle of, 1496
Java won by England, 1769
Kilmarnock, Earl of, 1627
Jeanne d'Arc, 534—543
Kilsyth, battle of, 1173
Jeffreys, Chief-Justice, 1447
King, growth of his dignity, iii, 112
Chancellor, 1462
the King in council, 211, 325
Jemappes, battle of, 1759
Divine right of, 976
Jena, battle of, 1803
his feudal rights abolished, 1324
Jenkins' ear, 1601
Kingdoms, the Three, 34
Jersey, New, 1661
King's Bench, Court of, 212
Jervis, Admiral, 177 1
King's Court, the, 183, 211, 212, 325
Jesuits in England, 819 — 820
Kingship, English, its origin, 26
Jews settle in England, 161 — 163
theory of, in thirteenth century, 350
expelled, 393
Sir John Fortescue's definition of, 562 ; see
return, 1254
Monarchy
Joan of Arc, see Jeanne
Kit's Coty House, 15
Johanna, daughter of King John, 313
Knights of the shire, 300, 332—335
John, son of Henry the Second, 213
Knolles' " History of the Turks," 801
King, 218
Knox, John, 760
loses Normandy, &c., 218 — 220
Knox's Liturgy, 109 1
his character, 231, 232
Kolin, battle of, 1635
quarrel with the Church, 232 — 235
Kunersdorf, battle of, 1650
with the barons, 237 — 239
Welsh wars, 234, 235, 313
homage to the Pope, 236
Labourers, their rise, 474—477
war with France, 236, 237
condition after Black Death, 479-
-482
with the barons, 238, 239
as painted by Longland, 498, 500
signs Charter, 240
their enfranchisement refused, 491
, 492
subdues Rochester and the North, 244
Statute of, 480
dealings with Ireland, 899, 901
its failure, 498
death, 245
demand for its repeal, 547
John, King of Bohemia, 437
labour question in fifteenth and sixteenth
John, King of France, 442, 443
centuries, 568, 569, 644
John the Old-Saxon, 96
La Hogue, battle of, 1 521
John the Litster, 490, 491
Lambert, General, 1198, 1263, 1275,
321
jonson, Ben. 878—881
Lambeth, treaty of, 246
Joseph the Second, Emperor, 1748, 1749
Lancaster, John, Duke of, see Gaunt
Junius, 1679, 1690
Lancaster, Thomas, Earl of, 398, 401
Junto, the, 1525, 1526, 1533
Lancaster, House of, its claims to
he Crown,
Jurors in the shire-court, 333
511— 5i3> 550
Jury, the grand, 2IO
its fall, 560
petty, 211
Land-tenure, changes in, 154, 156,
328, 329,
trial by, 210, 211
642 — 644
Justices of the Peace, 327
Lanfranc at Bee, 136
Justiciar, the, 183
relations with Duke William, 143
144
Jutes, their country, 2
Archbishop of Canterbury, 158
land at Ebbsfleet, 12, 13
secures the Crown for Rufus, 166
found kingdom of Kent, 26
death, ib.
Juxon, Bishop of London and Treasurer, 1060
Langport, battle of, 1173
Vol. I. pp. 1—468 ; Vol. II. pp. 469—931 ; Vol. III. pp. 933—1409; Vol. IV. pp. 141 1 — 1850.
INDEX
1893
Langside, battle of, 771
Lewes, battle of, 298
Langton, Simon, 244
Mise of, 300
Langton, Stephen, Archbishop of Canterbury,
Lewis the Seventh, King of France, 199, 209
233
Lewis (the Eighth) of France, in England, 244 —
heads opposition to John, 238
246
produces Charter of Henry the Firs
, ib.
Lewis the Ninth, King of France, 296
suspended, 244
Lewis the Eleventh, King of France, 611
his care f r the Charter, 268
Lewis the Twelfth, King of France, ih. , 633
death, ih.
Lewis the Fourteenth, 1363
Langton, Bishop of Winchester, 602
relations with England and Holland, 1366,
Language, English, under the Normans, 228,
1372
229
claims Low Countries, 1369
Henry the Third's proclamation in,
294
makes peace at Aix-la-Chapelle, 1370
growing use of, 415
treaties with Charles the Second, 1373 — 1375,
changes in Caxton's time, 579, 581
1398, 1427
used in law courts, 415, 1597
revokes Edict of Nantes, 1449, 1450
Lansdowne Hill, battle of, 1146
his power, 1467
Latimer, Hugh, 698—700
character and policy, 1469 — 1472
Bishop of Worcester, 700
attacks Flanders, 1473
imprisoned, 705, 719
Holland, ih.
burned, 727, 728
Italy, 1476
Latitudinarians, 972, 1293, 1306 — 1310
Germany, ih., 1485, 1492
Laud, Bishop, 1023, 1039
Netherlands, 1522
character and policy, 1054 — 1057
designs on Spain, 1532, 1535
Archbishop of Canterbur\% 1057
acknowledges the Pretender, 1538
plans of Church restoration, 1060 —
1064
campaign of 1703, 1551
first mmister, 1085
offers terms, 1565
dealings with Scotch Church, 1090,
1091
death, 1586
sent to the Tower, 11 19
Lewis the Fifteenth, 1586, 1623
Lauderdale, Earl of, 1359
Lewis the Sixteenth, 1747, 1749, 1756, 1759, 1 761
Lauffeld, battle of, 1628
Lewis the Eighteenth, 1823, 1827
Lauzun, Count of, 15 14, 15 15
Lexington, battle of, 1 701
Law Courts, Common, 324
Lichfield, seat of Mercian bishopric, 48
English language adopted in, 1597
archbishopric of, 78
Law, national, its development under ^^Ifred, 93
suppressed, 82
Roman, in England, 247, 248
Liegnitz, battle of, 1669
of Eadgar, no, 123
Ligny, battle of, 1824
of Eadward, 129
Lilburne, John, I178, 1208, 1212
of Howel Dda, 309
Lille taken by Marlborough, 1565
Layamon, 229
'• LiJlibullero," 1483
League, the Holy, 611, 612
Lilly, head of St. Paul's School, 606
Learning, the New, 593 — 604
Limerick, siege of, 1515, 1516
its educational reforms, 605 — 609
Limitation Bill, 1427
plans of Church reform, 610
Limoges, sack of, 448
theolog)-, 618, 619
Linacre, 596
antagonism to Luther, 632, 633
Lincoln, battle of, 194
Leases, their introduction, 472, 473
Fair of, 246
Leicester, town of, 371, 372
Lincoln, John de la Pole, Earl of, 587
Leicester, Earl of, revolts against Henry the
Lindisfarne, See of, 44
Second, 209
Irish monks of, withdraw to lona, 56
Leicester, Earl of, Elizabeth's favourite.
745' S32.
Cuthbert at, 63, 65
836
Lindiswara, 22
Leicester, Earl of, see Montfort
submit to Penda, 39
Leipzig, battle of, 1820
to Oswald, 44
Leith, siege of, 756
ceded to Ecgfrith, 63
Leland, 800
seized by /Elhelrcd, //'.
Lenthall, Speaker, 1133
Lisle, Alice, 1447
Leo the Tenth, I'oik-, 616, 630, 632
Litany, the English, 706
Leofric, Earl of Mercia, 130
Literature, in Xorlhumbria, 69 — 74
Leslie, Alexander, 1 107, 1109. Seeled
I'en
under /Elfred, 95—98
Leslie, David, 1213, 121 5
under Dunslan, 108
Leuthen, battle of, 1649
under Ndrnians and Angevins, 221 — 229
Levant Coinjiany, 989
in fourteenth century, 416-428, 463
Leven, Alexander Leslie, Earl of, 1 1
53. "85.
of iVasant Revolt, '485. 486, 493—498
See Leslie
decline in fifteenth century, 533, 571 — 574
Vol. I. i>p. 1—468; Vol. 11. pp. 469—931 ; \<'l. III. pp. 933—1409; \'ol. I\. YY
1411 - 1850.
6 !•• 2
iS94
INDEX
Literature — con tinned.
Caxton's translations, 577 — 581
New Learning, 593 — 609
under Kli/.abeth, 797— S06, 844— S57
Elizabethan ilrania, S57 — 8S1
drama (if the Restoration, 1291
beginnings t)f journalism, 1693
literature of Wales, 306 — 309
Lithsmen of London, 377
Liturgy, the Scottish, 109 1, noi
Liverpool, its rise, 1595
Liverpool, Karl of, 1S17, 1S32
Livery Companies of London, 3S5
Llewelyn ap Cruffydd, 292, 31S — 320
Llewelyn ap Jorwerth, 26S, 313—318
Loan, forced, 1030
Locke, John, 1314 — 1316
Lollardry, its origin, 464
suppressed at Oxford, 465, 466
character after- Wycl if 's death, 502
progress, 504, 505, 508
sujipressed, 514, 516, 517
under Henry the Sixth, 530
London, its position, 22
submits to Wuhhere, 59
to Ine, 67
to Offa, 76
plundered by northmen, 86
subject to .Elfred, 93
submits to William, 150
charter from him, il>.
Normans in, 171
Henry the First's charter to, 175
religious revival in, 180, 181
S. Paul's Cathedral, 180
election of Stephen, 192
defies Linocent the Third, 244
Kriars in, 285
supports Earl Simon, 296, 297
its cnihtengild, 181, 376
lithsmen, 377
rising of craftsmen in, 382, 3S3
attacked by peasants, 487
supports Lollardry, 503
Lollard rising in, 516
supports Richard of York, 55 ^
declares for Edward the Fourth, 554
Its trade, 107, 787
Merchant Adventurers of, 789
its extension forbidden, 107 1
supports Shaftesbury, 1428, 1429
Plague of, 1348
Fire of, ib.
sympathy with America, 1699
Londonderry, Marquis oi (see Castlereagh), 1832
Londonderry, siege of, 1500, 1501
Longchamp, William of, 213
Longland, William, 493 — 497
Lords, House of, llarley's dealings with, 1570
scheme for limiting its numbers, 1589, 1590
Pitt's dealings with, 1788
rejects Catholic emancipation, 18 1 7
dealings with Reform Bill, 1835
Lothian granted to the Scots, 355
Loughborough, Lord Chancellor, 1791
Louisburg, capture of, 1652
Louis Philippe, King of the French, 1835
Lovat, Lord, 1627
Lowestoft, l)attle of, 1347
Lowlands, the, 351
Lucknow, relief of, 1845
Luddite riots, 1815
Ludlow, General, 1251
Luneville, Peace of, 1775
Luther, 630 — 632
More's and Fisher's replies to, 633
Luttrell, Colonel, 1690
Lutzen, battle of, 1820
Lydgate, 572
Caxton's edition of, 576
Lyly, John, 801
Lyttelton, Lord Keeper, 11 39
" Mabinogion," 306
>Lickay, General, 1496
Madras, its origin, 1629
Magellan, Straits of, English explorers in, 1659,
1660
Mahrattas, 1631, 1711
Maine, county of, 142, 190, 218, 545
Major-Generals, Cromwell's, 1248, 1262
Malaccas won by England, 1769
Malcolm the First, King of Scots, 355
Malcolm the Third, King of Scots, 153, 168, 357
^Laldon, battle of, 1 14
Malmesbury, William of, 222
Malplaquet, battle of, 1567
Malta, dispute for possession of, 1792, 1793
retained by England, 1829
Manchester massacre, 1831
Manchester, Earl of, 1149, 1153, 'I55, 1157,
1 160, 1168
Man, Isle of, conquered by Eadwine, 38
Manor, the English, 469 — 472
Manufactures, English, 433, 781 — 785, 172S —
1732, 1815
Map, Walter de, 227
Mar, Earl of, 1575, 1585
March, Edward, Earl of, 553. .S'tt' Edward the
Fourth
Mare, Peter de la, 450, 45 1
Marengo, battle of, 1774
Margaret, sister of Eadgar the .Etheling, 153, 357
Margaret, daughter of Henry the Seventh, 716,
755. 764.
Margaret of Anjou, wife of Henry the Sixth, 545,
549, 550, 553—555, 559, 560
Margaret, the Maid of Norway, 359
Margaret of York, Ducliess of Burgundy, 55S,
588
Maria Theresa of Austria, 1593, 1605, 1621, 1634
Marignano, battle of, 633
Marlborough, Earl of, see Churchill
campaign in Ireland, 1515
intrigues against William. 1519, 1543, 15-44
power over Anne, 1541, 1545
character and statesmanship, 1545 — ^547
campaign in Netherlands, 1549 — 1 551
victory at Blenheim, 1553 — 1555
Yol. I. pp. 1 — 468; Yol. II. pp. 469—931 ; \'oI. HI. pp. 933—1409; Yol. lY. pp. 1411— 1850.
INDEX
1S95
M arlborough — continued.
Duke, 1556
relations with the Tories, 1556
with the Whigs, ih., 1562 — 1565
victory at Raniillies, 1558
successes in Flanders, 1565
fall, 1570
Marlborough, Sarah Jennings, Duchess of, 1541 —
1543
Marlowe, Christopher, 863, 864, 868
Marriages, civil, legalized, 1836
Marsh or de Marisco, Adam, 286, 288, 290 — 292
Marshal, Richard, Earl, 274
^larshal, William, Earl of Pembroke, 232, 245,
246, 266
Marston Moor, battle of, 1157
Marten, Henry, 1121, 1209
Martinico, English conquest of, 1672
"Martin Marprelate," 963
Mary, daughter of Charles I., 1397
Mary, daughter of Henry the Eighth, 639
Queen, 716 — 718
her policy, 719
marriage, 721
revolt against her, 720
her persecutions, 723 — 731
war with France, 73 1-
death, ib.
Ireland under her, 917 — 919
Mary, daughter of Henry the Seventh, 716
Mary, daughter of James, Duke of York, 1397
marriage, 1402
Queen, 1491
death, 1527
Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots, 716
claims to English throne, ib., 719, 733, 745,
755
proposed as wife for Edward the Sixth, 755
marries the Dauphin, ib.
returns to Scotland, 757, 75S
character and policy, 758 — 760
marries Darnley, 764
her plans, 764 — 766
vengeance on Darnley, 767, 768
marries Bolhwell, 769
imprisonment and abdication, 770
escapes to England, 771
jilots against Elizabeth, 773, 774
death, 833-835
Maryland colonized, 1049
Mary of Modena, wife of James the Second, 1391
Maserfeld, battle of, 46
Masham, Mrs., 1563
Massachusetts, its settlement and charter, 1050,
1051
Puritan emigration to, 1052, 1053, 1065
defies England, 1697 — 1699
Massena, Gi;neral, 1774. 1812, 1813
Massey, dean of Christ Church, Oxford, 1459
Matilda (Edith), wife of Henry the I-"irsl, 169, 170
Matilda of Flander^, wife of William the Con-
queror, 143
Matilda, the Empress, daughter of Henry the
First, 185, 191, 194
^launay, .Sir Waiter, 479
Maurice, Prince, 1149, 1157
Mayflo-iuer, the, 1050
Mayne, Cuthbert, 819
Meaux, siege of, by Henry the Fifth, 525
Medeshamstead, 60
Medicis, Catharine of, 762, 770, 825. 826
Medina Sidonia, Duke of, 839, 841
Melbourne, Viscount, 1835, 1839
Mellitus, Bishop of London, 39
Melrose, 50
Melville, Andrew, 1088, 1089
Meon-wara, 59
Merchade, 215
Merchant Adventurers, 789
Merchant-gilds, 377
Mercia, its origin, 22
under Penda, 39
its conversion, 47
three provinces, 48
under Wulfhere, 59, 60
struggle with Wessex, 69, 76 — S3
pays tribute to Danes, 88
extent after Peace of Wedmore, 92
annexed to Wessex, 100
earldom of, 123
Merlin, prophecies of, 316, 320
Methodists, 1612 — 1618
Middlesex, electors of, their struggle with the
Commons, 1689, 1690
Middlesex. Earl of, 102 1 ; sec Cranfield
Millenary Petition, 973
Milton, John, 944 — 947
early poems, 1094 — 1096
" Lycidas," 1105
ecclesiastical views, 1093, 1094, 1132
later years, 1279, 1280
"Paradise Lost," 1 281 — 1284
Minden, battle of, 1650
Ministry, Sunderland's organization of, 1523 —
1525
Minorca ceded to England, 1672
restored to Spain, 171 7
Mirebeau, siege of, 218
Mise of Amiens, 296
of Lewes, 300
Model, New, of the army, 1166 — 11 70
its struggle with Parliament, 118S — 1200,
1273— 1277
disbanded, 1284, 1285
Monarchy, the new, its character and causes,
561—569
its military jiower, 589
growth under Wolsey, 634, 635, O3S
height of its power, 691, 692
under Elizabeth, 806, 807
abolished, 1206
effect of the Revolution on, 1504
decline of its influence, 157S, 1579
Monasteries, tiissohilion of, 667 -671, 70O — 7°^
Monasticism, its reform under Eadgar, loS
.Monk, (General, 1249, 1273, 1275 1277, 1319
Monmouth, Duke of, 1355
scheme for his succession, 141 7. 1422
(light. 1433
rebellion and death. 1444, 1445
Vol. \. Y\,. 1—468 ; \<.l. H. i)p. 469—931 ; \'..l. HI. pp. 933 1409; \ol. I\'. pp. 141
I S50.
1896
INDEX
Monmouth, Geoffry of, 226
Monopolies, S13, 1072
Mons, siege of, 15 19
Montacule, Ix>rd, 6S7
Montagu, Lord, brother of \Var\vici<, 556, 559
Montagu, Ralph, 1409
Montague, Dr., 1023, 1024
Montague, his finance, 1526 — 1528
impeached, 1538
Montcalm, Marquis of, 1634, 1652— 1655
Montfort, Eleanor de, 320
Monifort, Simon of. Earl of Leicester, 2S9, 290
Governor of Gascony, 290
character, 290 — 292
heads the barons, 293
negotiates with France, 294
struggle with Henry the Third, 294 — 298
his rule, 298, 300
summons Commons to Parliament, 300
last struggle and death, 301 — ^304
Montfort, Simon of, the younger, 302
Montreal, capture of, 1655
Montrose, Earl and Marquis of, 1 107
joins the King's parly, 11 24
victory at Tippermuir, 1160
Inverlochy, 1171
Kilsyth, 1 1 73
defeat at Philiphaugh, ib.
death, 121 3
Moodkee, battle of, 1841
Moore, Sir John, 1809
More, Hannah, 1619
More, Sir Thomas, 620 — 624
his " Utopia," 624 — 629
reply to Luther, 633
Speaker, 640
Chancellor, 657
resigns, 662, 677
summoned to Lambeth, 678
imprisoned, ib.
death, 681
Moreau, General, 1769, 1774. 1775
Morkere, Earl of Northumbria, 133, 149, 153
Morrison, Robert, botanist, 1304
Mortemer, battle of, 141
Mortimer, House of, its claims to the Crown,
511.550
Mortimer, Roger, 41 1
Mortimer's Cross, battle of, 553
Morton, Bishop of Ely, 584, 585
his "fork," 589
Morton, Earl of. Regent of Scotland, 1087, 1088
Moscow, Napoleon's retreat from, 1819, 1820
Mountjoy, Lord, 925
Mowbray, Roger, 209
Murray, James Stuart, Earl of, 764
Regent of Scotland, 770 — 772
murdered, 774, 1087
Namur taken by Lewis the Fourteenth, 1522
by the Allies, 1527
Nantes, Edict of, 1449
revoked, ib.^ 1450
Napoleon the First, Emperor of the French (set
Buonaparte), 1799
his victories over Austria and Germany, 1801,
1803
Continental system, 1S03
alliance with Russia, 1806
mastery of Europe, 1808
dealings with Spain, ib.
with America, 1814
with Northern Europe, 1818
Russian campaign, 1819, 1820
fall, 1821
return, 1823
last struggle, 1823 — 1827
Napoleon the Third, Emperor, 1844, 1845
Naseby, battle of, 1171 — 1173
Nash, pamphleteer, 805, 806
Navarino, battle of, 1832
Nectansmere, battle of, 65, 352
Neerwinden, battle of, 1522
Nelson, Admiral, 1773, 1801
Netherlands revolt against Philip the Second, 770,
825, 826
English volunteers in, 828, 829
claimed by Lewis the Fourteenth, 1369
invaded, 1473, 1522
Marlborough's campaigns in, 1549, 1 551,
1556
invaded again, 1623, 1767
Neville, Anne, 559
Neville, George, Archbishop of York and Chan-
cellor, 557, 559
Neville's Cross, battle of, 438
Newburgh, William of, 223
Newbury, battles of, 1149, 1 160
Newcastle, Duke of, 1623, 1634, 1637, 1669
Newcastle, Earl of, Cavalier general, 1136, 1145.
1153, "57
Newcaslle-on-Tyne founded, 165
Newton, Isaac, 1304, 1305
Newtown Butler, battle of, 1501
Niagara, Fort, 1633, 1652
Nicholas, Secretary of State, 1320, 1367
Nile, battle of, 1773
Nimeguen, Peace of, 1403
Nonconformists, expulsion of ministers, 1331
persecution of, 1336 — 1339, 1428
Non-jurors, 1508, 1509
Nootka Sound, 1751
Norfolk, Duke of, his quarrel with Henry of
Lancaster, 508
Norfolk, Duke of, uncle of Anne Boleyn, 647
his policy, 657, 705
dealings with insurgents, 682 — 685
imprisoned, 709
Norfolk, Duke of, under Elizabeth, 774, 775
Norfolk, Duke of, under James the Second, 1457,
i486
Norfolk, Earl of, see Bigod
Norfolk, Ralph of Guader, Earl of, 164
Norham, Parliament at, 361
Normandy, 134, 135
its relations with England, 1 15 — 1 17
with the Angevins, 190
conquered by Philip, 218 — 220
Vol. T. pp. I -468 ; Vol. H. pp. 469—931 ; Vol. HI. pp. 933—1409 ; Vol. IV. pp. 1411 — 1850.
INDEX
1897
Normandy — continued.
reconquered by Henry the Fifth, 521 — 524
Bedford's rule in, 543
lost again, 545
Normandy, Richard the Fearless, Duke of, 135
Normandy, Robert Curthose, Duke of, 165, 166,
168, 182, 183
Normandy, Robert, Duke of, 139
Normandy, William Longsword, Duke of, 135
Normandy, William the Conqueror, Duke of,
see William
Normans, their settlement in Gaul, 135
conquests, 138
North, Lord Keeper, 1446
North, Lord, minister of George the Third, 1696,
1697, 1705, 1708, 1712, 1713, 1782
Northampton, Assize of, 211
battle of, 550
Council of, 204
treaty of, 41 1
Northampton, John of, mayor of London, 503
North Briton, the, 1678
North-folk, 19
Northmen, 83 — 86. See Danes, Ostmen
Northumberland, Duke of (j-tr Warwick), 716 — 718
Northumberland, Earl of, under Elizabeth, 773,
775
Northumberland, Percy, Earl of, under Henry
the Fourth, 514
Northumberland, Robert Mowbray, Earl of, 166
Northumbria, kingdom of, 23, 29
its extent, 34
greatness, 34—38
conversion, 38, 39
Irish missionaries in, 41 — 46
Cuthbert in, 49 — 52
ecclesiastical strife in, 54 — 56
extent under Ecgfrith, 62, 63
its fall, 64—65, 76
literary greatness, 69 — 74
submits to Ecgberht, 83
to the Danes, 87
to Eadward, loi
to .'Ethelstan, 102
earldom of, 106, 123
its northern ])art. granted to the Scots, 355
Norwich, rising of John the Litster at, 491
Nottingham, peace of, 87
Nova Scotia contjuered, 1632, 1633
ceded by France, 1672
Noy invents ship-money, 1099
Gates, Titus, 1404 — 1407, 1509
O'Brien, Smith, 1843
Occlevc, 572
Ockham, 287, 452
O'Connell, Daniel, 1833, 1835, '836, 1839
Odo, Archiiisho]) of Canterbury, 103, 107
Odo, Hishoji of Bayeux, 150, 164, 166
Offa, King of Mercia, 76 82
Oglethorpe, (jeneral, 1662
Ohio Company, 1 633
Oldcastle, Sir John, 502. See Cobham
O'Neil, Hugh, 121 3
O'Neil, Owen Roe, 1206
O'Neill, Hugh, 924, 925
O'Neill, Shane, 919—921
Orange, William the First, Prince of, 826, 832
Orange, William the Second, Prince of, 1205
Orange, W^illiam the Third, Prince of, i^^ William
Orangemen, 1784
Ordainers, the Lords, 39S
Ordeal, 21 1
Orders in Council, 1805, 1807, 1S13, 1817, iSiS
Ordinance, Self-denying, 1168
for Suppression of Blasphemies, 1197
Orleans, Duke of. Regent of France, 1586
Orleans, Henrietta, Duchess of, 1375
Orleans, siege of, 537 — 541
Ormond, Earl of, general in Ireland, 1150
invites Charles the Second thither, 1206
besieges Dublin, 1209
Duke and Lord Steward, 1319
Governor in Ireland, 1360
retires, 1367
returns to the Council, 1391
Ormond, second Duke of, 1575, 1580, 1586, 15S8
Orthes, battle of, 1821
Osbern's lives of English saints, 222
Osney Abbey, 252
Ostmen, 103
Oswald, Bishop of Worcester, 108
Oswald, King of Northumbria, 43 — 46
Oswiu, King of Northumbria, 47, 55
Otford, battle of, 76
Othere's voyage, 94
Otto of Saxony, Emperor, 215, 235, 236
Oudenarde, battle of, 1565
Oudh, annexation of, 1845
Overbury, Sir Thomas, 100 1
Oxford besieged by Stephen, 194, 195
town, 248 — 252
Vacarius at, 248
friars in, 285, 286
Provisions of, 293, 294
Charles the First at, 1144, 1145
siege of, 1 155
Parliament at, 1426
University, 252 — 255, 257 — 260
drives out a I'apal Legate, 276
Lollards at, 465, 466
decline in fifteenth century, 573
Duke Humphry gives his library to, 582
the New Learning at, 596, 599—601, 60S,
609
Cardinal College at, 609, 637
Protestants at, 697
religious changes in, S16
decrees passive obedience, 976
struggle with James the Second. 1459- 14(11
Jacobites in, 1586
Oxford, Earl of, xnuler Henry the Seventh, 591
Oxford, Earl of, son-in-law of Cecil, 820
Oxford, llarley, Earl o{ (see Harley), 1573, 1580
PACKKNirAM, General, 1S22
Palatinate ravaged by Lewis the I'Ourteenth, 1492
l*ale, the English, in Ireland, 899, 901
Vol. I. pp. 1—468 ; \ol. n. pp. 469—931 ; Vol. HI. |)p. 933—1409 ; \nl. 1\'. pp I4II — 1S5O.
1898
INDEX
Palmerston, Viscount, 183S, 1844— 1846 j
I'miipeluna, siege of, 1820
J'anclulf, Cardinal, 236, 266, 26S
Papacy, its claims on the Knglish Church, 269,
454, 455
its jurisdiction rejected, 664 — 666
Mary's submission to, 722
rejected again, 747
Paris, English students at, 252, 256
Henry the Sixth crowned at, 543
declares for Charles the Seventh, 544
surrenders to the allies, 1821, 1827
Peace of, 1672, 1S44
Paris, Matthew, 277, 278
Parker, Matthew, Archbishop of Canterbury, 748,
750, 800
Parliament, Commons summoned to, 300
growth in thirteenth century, 329 — 344
changes in its composition, 444, 445
two Houses, 446
superseded by permanent committee, 507
deposes Richard the Second and elects Henry
the P^ourth, 510 — 512
position under House of Lancaster, 513, 514
importance during Wars of Roses, 562, 569, 570
decline under Edward the Fourth, 570
revival under Richard the Third, 585
Henry the Seventh's dealings with, 589
struggle with Wolsey, 640, 641
revival after his fall, 657
undertakes Church reform, 659
revival under Cromwell, 692
opposes Mary's Church policy, 719, 723
position under Elizabeth, 809 — 813
relations with the Crown, 981
suspension under Charles the First, 1067
struggle with Charles the Second, 1381,
1393— 1397
Danby's dealings with, 1397 — 1400
Roman Catholics excluded from, 1407
James the Second's attempt to"regulate," 1458
position after the Revolution, 1505 — 1507
composition after union with Scotland, 1559
after union with Ireland, 1786
relations with the Press, 1677 — 1679, 1692,
1693
Admonition to, 957
Acts of, see Statutes
reform of, 1690 — 1692, 1722, 1736, 1S17,
1835, 1847
Barebones' Parliament, 1234
the Cavalier, 1327 — 1331, 1409
Club, 532
Convention, 1320 — 1324
Good, 449 — 451
Pong, its proceedings in 1640, 11 17 — 11 19
in 1641, 1119 — 1124
Grand Remonstrance, 11 29
schemes of Church Reform, 1129 — 1 132
five members, 1133 — 1136
prepares for war, 1 138, 11 39
dealings with religion, 1 181 — 1 183, 1 188, 1 197
with the army, 11 88 — 1 194
Oxford, 1426, 1427
Rump, 1200, 1208, 1229 — 1231
Parliament — continued.
Short, 1 109
of 1604, 983 — 986; of 1606, 987 ; of 16 10,
990 ; of 1614, 992—995 ; of 1621, 1007—
IO15 ; of 1624, IO21 ; of 1625, 1023 ; of
1628, 1033 — 1042; of 1654, 1242 — 1245;
of 1655, 1261 — 1267 ; of 1658, 1269, 1270 ;
of 1659, 1271 — 1273; of 1679, 141 1, 1416;
of 1680, 1421 — 1426; ofl6Sl, 1426, 1427;
of 1686, 1443; of 1690, 1512; of 1696,
1527; of 1698, 1533; of 1701, 1537; of
1702, 1539; of 1784, 1725,1726; of 1832,
1833, and 1835, 1835 ; of 1859, 1846 ; of
1868, 1847 ; of 1874, 1850
Irish, under Wentworth, 1084
under James the Second, 1501
under the Georges, 1777 — 1779
its indejiendence restored, 1714, 1738, 1780
rejects free trade, 1739, 1783
action as to Regency, 1786
Scottish, the "Drunken," 1359
Parma, Duke of, 832, 835, 837
Parr, Catharine, 709
Parry's plot, 833
Parsons, Jesuit, 819, 820
Partition, Treaties of, 1532 — -1534
Paston Letters, 574
Paterson, William, financier, 1526
" Patriots," 1599
Paul, Czar of Russia, 1792, 1793
Paulinus, 38, 41
Pavia, battle of, 644
Peasant revolt, 485 — 492
Peel, Sir Robert, 1832, 1833, 1835, 1839, 1842
" Peep-o'-Day Boys," 1784
Peerage Bill, 1589, 1590
Pelham, Henry, 1623, 1634
Pembroke, Earls of, sec ^Iarshal, Striguil
Pembroke, settlement of, 312
Penda, King of Mercia, 39, 46, 47
Pengwyrn becomes Shrewsbury, 76
Peninsular war, 1808 — 1813, 1818, 1819
Penn, William, 1428, 1661
Pennsylvania founded, 1428, 1661
Penry, author of Marprelate tracts, 964
Perceval, Spencer, 181 1, 181 7
Percy, see Hotspur, Northumberland
Perrers, Alice, 451
Perth, Convocation of, 368
Peterborough, Earl of, 1557, 1562, 1563
Peterborough founded, 60
burnt l)y Danes, 87
Benedict of, 223
Peters, Hugh, 11 78
Petition of Grievances, 992
Millenary, 973
of Right,' 1035, 1037
" Petitioners" and " Abhorrers," 1423
Petitions changed into Statutes, 447
Petre, Father, 1457
Petty, Sir William, 1298
Pevensey, 18
William lands at, 146
Phelips, Sir Robert, 1024, 1025
Philadelphia, Congress at, 1697
Vol. I. pp. I — 468 ; Vol. H. pp. 469—931 ; Vol. HI. pp. 933 — 1409; Vol. IV. pp. 14H — 1850.
INDEX
1S99
Philip Augustus, King of France, 212
war with Richard the First, 213 — 218
conquers Normandy, &c. , 218 — 220
charged to depose John, 234
victory at Bouvines, 237
Philip, Duke of Anjou, King of Spain, 1535,
1536, 1586
Philip of Valois, King of France, his war \\ ith
Edward the Third, 431 — 438
Philip (the Second of Spain) son of Charles the
Fifth, marries Mary Tudor, 719, 721
supports Elizabeth, 755
turns to Mary Stuart, 764
position and character, 822 — S25
conquers Portugal, 831
defeat of his Armada, 839 — 84 1
designs on P'rance, 731, 890, 891
Philiphaugh, battle of, 1173
Philippines, English conquest of, 1672
Pict-land, 352, 353
Picts attack Britain, 9, 10
defeated, 14
subdued by Ecgfrith, 62, 352
rise against him, 64, 65, 352. 353
Piers the Ploughman, 493 — 49S
Pilgrimage of Grace, 682 — 6S5
Pilgrim Fathers, 1050
Pillnitz, Conference of, 1756
Pinkie Cleugh, battle of, 755
Pitt, William, 1599
enters office, 1624
character, 1637 — 1647
supports Frederick the Second, 1649
policy towards America, 1651, 1652
opposed by the Whigs, 1669
fall, 167 1
recalled, 1677, 1682
denounces the Stamp Act, 1682, 1683
returns to office, 1687. A'c Chatham
Pitt, William, the younger, 1720, 1721
his plan of reform, 1722
Chancellor of the Exchequer. //'.
first minister, 1725
his character, 1726, 1727
policy, 1734, 1735
bill for Parliamentary reform, 1736 — 1737
his finance, 1737, 1738
treaty of commerce with France, 1739
dealings with Ireland, ib., 1782, 1783, 1785,
1786, 1790, 1791
with foreign politics, 1748 — 175^' 1753' 1755'
1756, 1759— 1761
supports Eibel Act, 1753
gives Constitution to Canada, ib.
financial difficulties, 1769
dealings with the peerage, 1788
resigns, 1 791
returns to office, 1799
death, 1802
I'itlsburg, 1652
I'lace Bill, 1507
Plassey, battle of, 1648
i'lattsburg, English attack on, 1822
I'laucn, battle of, 1650
J 'leas, Court of Common. 212
Poitiers, battle of, 442, 443
Poland, disputed election in, 1599
partition of, 1748
Pole, Reginald, 6S5, 687, 722
Pollock, General, 1840
Poll-tax, 485
■■ Popish Plot," 1404 — 1409
Portland, Duke of, 1763, 1806, 181 1
Port Mahon taken by the French, 1635
Porto Bello captured by Vernon, 1603
I'ortreeves of London, 171, 175
Portsmouth, Louise de Querouaille, Duchess of,
1354, 1423, 1426, 1441
Portugal conquered by Spain, 831
Wellington's campaigns in, 1811 — 1813
Poynings, Sir Edward, 904
Pragmatic Sanction, 1593
Prague, battles of, 1007, 1635
Prayer, Book of Common, 712, 714
Scottish, 1091, iioi
Presbyterianism in England, 952, 953, 957, 962,
966, 1131, II32
in Ireland, 1777
in Scotland, 1089, 1494, 1498
Press, regulated by Star-Chamber, 963
censorship of, abolished, 1434
proposal to revive, 1528
growth of its influence, 1677, 1678
Grenvilles struggle with, 1678, 1679
influence on Parliament, 1692
beginnings of journalism, 1693
Preston, battle of, 1198
Preston Pans, battle of, 1625
Pride's Purge, 1200
Printing, invention of, 575
Protectorate, the, 1 241, 1242
Protestants, their triumph under T. Cromwell,
700—705
under Hertford, 71 1> 7i2
persecuted under Mary, 720 — 727, 729—731
growth under Elizabeth, 814 — 817
fortunes on the Continent, 967 — 971
attitude at Elizabeth's death, 971
French, see Huguenots
Prussia rises against Na]:>oleon, 1820
I'ulteney, head of the " Patriots," 1599
Punjaub, annexation of, 1844
I'urilanism, its rise, 937
temper, 938—944, 979
growth, 962
Laud's struggle with, 1055 — 1060
its attitude towards the stage, 1097
fall, 1278, 1285
work, 12S5
ideal, 1288
revolt against, 1290 — 1293
Puritan clergy exjielled, 986
emigration to America, 1065
Pym, John, 1035, 1037, nil -11 [5
his tJrand Kt-monstrance, 1129
plans for Church reform, II30, 1131
charged with treason, 1 133
|)roj)oses ti-rnis with Scolhtnd. Ii4i>
death, 1 1 53
his corpse oulr.iged, 1327
Vol. I. p|,. 1—468; \'ol. 11 pp 469—931 ; \..l. III. pp. 033—1400; \'
I\
>p. 141 1 — 1S50.
IQOO
INDEX
Quakers, persecution of, 133S
released, 1379
Quarles, 1094
Qiiatre Bras, battle of, 1824
Quebec, capture of, 1652 — 1655
(^uiberon, battle of, 165 1
" Quo Warranto," 390
Radicals, 1S31
Rasdwald, King of East-Anglia, 34, 35, 39
Rahere founds S. Bartholomew's, Sniilhfieid, 181
Railways, 1S37
Raikes, founder of Sunday Schools, 1619
Ralegh, his " History of the World," 801
friendship with Spenser, 847, 848
discovers Virginia, 1046
last expedition and death, 1004, 1005
Ramillies, battle of, 1558
Ray, John, zoologist, 1304
Reform, Economical, 1722
Parliamentary, st-e Parliament
Reformation, the, its beginning, 630
antagonism to the Renascence, 632
Regicides, their fate, 1320, 1 321
Reginald, sub-prior of Canterbury, elected Arch-
bishop, 232
Remonstrance, the (Irand, 11 29
Renascence, see Learning, New
Restoration, its social effects, 1290 — 1292
Revolution, the English, 1487 — 1491
results, 1504 — 1509
the French, 1747, 1749, 175I) 1756 — 1761
of 1830, 1S35
of 1848, 1843
Rhys ap Tewdor, prince of South Wales, 312
Rich, Edmund, see Edmund
Richard the First, son of Henry the Second, his
rebellions, 209, 212
Crusade, 213
wars with France and alliance with Germany,
215
builds Chateau-Gaillard, 215, 216
releases Scotland from homage, 359
death, 218
Richard the Second, son of the Black Prince,
acknowledged heir to the Crown, 451
King, 485
dealings with Peasant Revolt, 487 — 491
takes government in his own hands, 506
truce with France, td.
marriage, z/>.
character, id.
rule, 507
banishes Henry of Lancaster, 508
expeditions to Ireland, 506, 508, 904
prisoner, 510
deposed, td.
Richard the Third, patron of Caxton, 582
King, 584—587
Richmond, Edmund Tudor, Earl of, 585
Richmond, Henry Tudor, Earl of, 585
victory at Bosworth, 587. See Henry the
Seventh
Richmond, Margaret Beaufort, Countess of, 585
Ridley, Bishop of London, 719, 727
Right, Claim of, 1494
Petition of, 1035— 1037
Rights, Bill of, 1504
Declaration of, 1489 — 149 1
Rivers, Earl, father of Elizabeth Woodville, 558
Rivers, Earl, brother of l"]lizabeth Woodville, his
"Sayings of the Philosophers,"' 581, 582
executed, 584
Rizzio, 764, 765
Robinson, John, Brownist minister, 963, 1049
Rochelle, Buckingham's expedition to, 1033
its fall, 1039
Roches, Peter des, 266, 275
Rochester, Carr, Viscount, looi
Rochester, Laurence Hyde, Earl of, 1435, HS*^'
^^^^
Rochester, siege of, by William the Second, 166
Rochester, Wilmot, Earl of, 1290
Rochford, Lord, 647
Rockingham, Marquis of, 1682, 1686, 1714, 1722
Rodney, Admiral, 1715
Roger, Bishop of Salisbury and Justiciar, 194
Roger, son of William Fitz-Osbern, 164
Rohese, wife of Gilbert Beket, 196
Rome, Cnut at, 124
Church of, its revival in sixteenth century,
967—971
Roses, Wars of the, their beginning, 549
results, 561 — 564
Ross, General, 1822
Rossbach, battle of, 1649
Roucoux, battle of, 1628
Rouen, siege of, by Henry the Fifth, 522 — 524
Henry the Sixth at, 543
submits to Charles the Seventh, 545
"Roundheads," 1132
Roundway Down, battle of, 1 147
Royal Society, the, 1297 — 1303
Runnymede, 240
Rupert, Prince, at Edgehill, 1143
at Reading and Brentford, 1 145
at Chalgrove, 1 147
enters Vork, 1 157
defeated at Marston Moor, id.
at Xaseby, 1171, 1173
commands a fleet for Charles the Second,
1205, 1212, 1213, 1347
returns to the Council, 1391
his " drops," 1301
Russell, Admiral, 1519, 1521
enters the Ministry, 1526
resigns, 1533
impeached, 1538
Russell, Lord John, 1843, 1844
Earl, 1847
Russell, William, Lord, leader of Country party,
1381
enters the Council, 141 1
resigns, 1423
beheaded, 1432
Russia, its policy in eighteenth century, 1634,
1748, 1773, 1774, 1792, I793> 1801, 1806
quarrel with Napoleon, 1818 — 1820
Russian Company, 789
Vol. L pp. 1—468; Vol. H. pp. 469—931 ; Vol. HL pp. 933—1409; \o]. IV. pp. 1411 — 1S50.
INDEX
1901
Rutland, Earl of, 553
Ruyter, Admiral De, 1227, 1259, 1347, 1379
Rye House Plot, 1432
Ryswick, Peace of, 1529
Sacheverell, Dr., 1567, 156S
St. Albans, its historical school, 277, 278
revolt of its burghers, 488, 491
battles at, 549, 553
St. Edmundsbury, its origin, 88
history, 175 — 178
confirmation of its privileges, 490
St. John, Henry, 1556, 1563. See Bolingbroke
St. Paul's School, 605, 606
St. Ruth, General, 1516
St. Vincent, Cape, battles of, 1715, 1771
Salamanca, battle of, 18 19
Salisbury, Earl of, adherent of Richard the Second,
509, 516
Salisbury, Earl of, partisan of York, 549, 550
beheaded, 553
Salisbury, Margaret, Countess of, 685, 687
Salisbury, Robert Cecil, Earl of, 990, 1000, 1002
Sancroft, Archbishop of Canterbury, 1461, 1489,
1509
Sandwich, Montagu, Earl of, 1319
San Sebastian, siege of, 1820
Saratoga, Burgoyne's surrender at, 1 704
Sarsfield, General, 1515, 15 16
Sautre, William, 514
Savoy, Boniface of, Archbishop of Canterbury,
272
Savoy, Peter of, 272
Savoy, Prince Eugene of, 1549, 1553, 1565
Savoy, the, 272
sacked, 488
conference at, 1328
Saxe, Marshal, 1624, 1627
Saxons, their home-land, 2
East, their settlements, 19, 20
West, conquer Southern Britain, ib.
defeated at Faddiley, 29
conquer Somerset, 62, 66, 67
conquer Dyvnaint, 78
South, kingdom of, 18
"Saxony," 351, 352
Say and Sele, Lord, iioi, 1320
Say, Lord, 547, 548
Scholasticism, 287, 288
Schomberg, Duke of, 1 51 2, 15 13
Schools founded under Henry the Eighth, 608
under Edward the Sixth, 715
" Circulating," 1610
National, 1836
Sunday, 161 9
Science, English, its beginnings, 1295 — 1304
Scinde, annexation of, 1840
Scotland, condition in thirteenth century, 351
kingdom of, its origin, 353
relations with I^ngland, 353 — 359
first conquest of, 361 — 364
second, 365—368
revolt under Bruce, 404 — 410
its indei)endencc recognized, 41 1
Scotland — continued.
alliance w ith France, 505
history after Bruce, 751 — 755
Elizabeth's dealings with, 755, 756
union with England proposed, 984
relations with the Stuarts, loSS — 1091
revolts against Charles the First, 1106 — IIIO
reaction in, 1 196
condition under Cromwell, 1249
under Charles the Second, 1359
acknowledges William and Mary, 1494
first union with England, 1222, 1249
dissolved, 1359
second union, 1561
Jacobite risings in, 1585, 1586, 1624 — 1627
Scots attack Britain, 10
their origin, 353
submit to Eadward the Elder, loi, 355
league with the Percies, 514
in service of France, 534
Scrope, Archbishop of York, 515
Sculage, 208, 242
Sea-Dogs, the, 829
Sebastopol, siege of, 1844
Securities Bill, 1394, 1416, 1425
Sedgemoor, battle of, 1446, 1447
Sedley, Sir Charles, 1290
Seminary Priests, 818
Seneff, battle of, 1475
Separatists, 962
Seven Years' War, its beginning, 1634
its effects, 1659
end, 1672
Seville, treaty of, 1594
Seymour, Jane, 689
Shaftesbury, Earl o{ {sec Ashley, Cooper), 1379
character and career, 1383 — 1385
policy, 1385— 1 39 1
dismissed, 1393
new policy, 1393— .1395
demands a dissolution, 1399
imprisoned, //;.
dealings with Popish Plot, 1406— 1409^
1419— 1422, 1425
President of Council, 1411
plans for Monmouth's succession, 1417
dismissed, 1421
recalls Monmouth, 1422
fall and death, 1428— 1430
Shakspere, 864—878
Shaxton, Bishoji of Salisbury, 700
Shelburne, ].ord, 1677, 1689, 1720
Sherborne, see of, 67
Sheriff, his function in the shire-court, 332
Sheriffmuir, battle of, 1585
Ship-money, 1099, iioo
declared illegal, II 19
Shire, Knights of the, 300, 333-335
Shire-court, 332, m
Shrewsbury (Scrobsbyryg), 76
battle of. 515
Shrewsbury, Ihike of, 1575, 1576
Shrewsbury, I'^arl of, Secretary of Stale, 151 1
•527
Shrewsbury, Tall»)l, llarl nf, 544, 545
Vol. L lip. 1—468; Vol. If. pp. 469-931 ; Vol HI. pp. 933—1409; Vol. I\'. yy. 1411— 1850.
J902
INDEX
Sidmouth, Lord, 1803
Sidney, Algernon, 1431 — 1433
Sidney, Sir Henry, 921
Sidney. Sir Piiilip, 802—805, S32, 845. 847
Sigeberht, king of East Anglia, 40
Sikhs, 1 63 1. 1840, 1844
Siinnel, Lainliert, 587
Siward, Earl of Northunibria, 130
Skeffington, Deputy in Ireland, 906
Slanning, Sir Nicholas, 1146
Slavery in early England, 27, 28
its decline, 1 10
disappearance, 470
colonial, abolished, 1S36
Slave-trade in early England, no, 165, S95
African, 789
movement for its abolition, 1741, 1742
abolished, 1806
Sleswick, its people in the fifth century, i
Sluys, battle of, 434
Smerwick, massacre at, 923
Smith, Adam, 1733
Smith, John, settles in Virginia, 1046 — 1048
Smith, Sir Sidney, 1774
Smithfield, St. Bartholomew's Priory at, 181
Snowdon, Lords of, 313
Sobraon, battle of, 1841
Solway Moss, battle of, 755
Somevs, John, 1489, 1526
Lord Keeper, 1527
dismissed, 1533
impeached, 1538
effects union with Scotland, 1559
President of Council, 1565
Somerset, Beaufort, Duke of, 548, 549
Somerset, Carr, Viscount Rochester and Earl of,
lOOI
Somerset, Duke of, and James the Second, 1457
Somerset conquered by West Saxons, 62, 66, 67
Somerset, Margaret, Duchess of, patron of Caxton
581
Somerset, Protector, see Hertford
invades Scotland, 755
Sonierton taken by .Lthelbald of Mercia, 69
Somerville's plot, 832
Sophia, Electress of Hanover, 1539
Soult, Marshal, 181 1, 1819, 1821
Southampton, Earl of. friend of Shakspere, 871,
873
Southampton, Earl of, Lord Treasurer, 1319, 1367
South-folk, 19
South Sea Bubble, 1590 — 1592
Southumbrians, 22
Spain, growth of its power, 611
alliance with Henr)- the Seventh, ib.
under Philip the Second, 822 — 824
relations with James the First, 1002 — IOO5,
loii, 1012, 1017— 1023
its decline, 1471
disputed succession in, 1532 — 1537
war in, 1562
struggle for Sardinia and Sicily, 1587
Family Compact with France, 1601
war with England, 1603, 1672
league with France and America, 1707
Spain — coiitunied.
mastered by Naj^oleon, 1808
rises, 1809, 1810
Wellington's campaign in, 1818 — 1820
Speed, chronicler, 801
Spencer, Earl, 1763
Spenser. Edmund, 844 — 857
inlluence on Milton, 1094
Sports, Book of, 1059
Spurs, battle of the, 612
Stafford, Lord, 1425
Stair, Dalrymple, Master of, 1496 — 1498
Stamford Bridge, battle of, 146
Standard, battle of the, 193
Stanhope, Lord, Secretary of Slate, 1 584
his Ministry, 1589
death, 1591
Star Chamber, Court of, established, 591
regulates the Press, 963
employment by Charles the First, 1071 — 1073
abolished, 1 124
Stationers, Com]iany of, 963
Statutes, change in mode of jiassing them, 570
of Apparel, 546
Appeals, 664
liallot Act, 1849
Civil Marriage, 1836
Church Disestablishment (Ireland), 1847, 1848
Conventicle, 1336
Corn Laws, 1831
repealed, 1843
Corporation Act, 1328
Five Mile, 1336, 1367
of Grace, 1512
of Government, 1265
Habeas Corpus, 1435
suspended, 1585
Statute of Heresy, 514
repealed, 714
re-enacted, 723
India, 1740
of Indemnity and Oblivion, 1320
of Kilkenny, 903
of Labourers, 480 — 482
Land Act (Ireland), 1847
Libel, 1753
of Liveries, 591
of Merchants, 327
of Mortmain, 326
Municipal Corporations, 1836
Mutiny, 1505
Navigation, 1223, 1680
Occasional Conformity, 1555
repealed, 1586
Poor Laws, 779, 780, 1836
Poynings', 904
repealed, 17 14
of Praemunire, 454
usedby Henry the Eighth against Wolsey, 650
against the clergy, 662
of Provisors, 454
" Quia Emptores," 327, 328
Reform, 1835, 1847
Registration, 1836
Regulating, 1709
Vol, I. pp. I — 46S ; Vol. II. pp. 469 — 931 ; Vol. III. pp. 933 — 1409 ; Vol. IV. pp. 141 1 — 1850.
INDEX
1903
Statutes — continued.
of Rights, 1504
Schism, 1572
repealed, 1586
of Security, 1559
Septennial, 1586
of Settlement, 1539
Six Articles, 703
repealed, 711
Stamp Act, 1680 — 1681
resisted in America, 1682
repealed, 1686
of Succession, 677
of Supremacy, 666
Test, 762, 1381
set aside, 1453
Tithe Commutation, 1836
Triennial, 1 119, 1505, 1527
Toleration, 1507
of Uniformity, 74S, 1329
of Union with Ireland, 1786
with Scotland, 1561
of Wales, 321
of Winchester, 327
Steam-engine, 1731
Steinkirk, battle of, 1522
Stephen, King, 192—195, 197
Stigand, Archbishop of Canterbury, 133, 15S
Stillingfleet, 1367, 1456
Stirling, battle of, 366
Stowe, chronicler, 801
Strafford, Earl of [see Wentworth), 1 109
impeached, 11 17
trial, 1 121
death, 11 23
Strathclyde, 34, 35
submits to Oswald, 44
to Eadberht, 74
to Eadward, loi
granted to Malcolm, 355
Stratton Hill, battle of, 1146
Streoneshealh, see Whitby
Striguil, Richard of Clare, Earl of Pembroke and,
898
Strode, one of the Five Members, 1133
Strongbow, 898
Stuart, Charles Edward, 1624 — 1627
Stuart, James Francis, son of James the Second,
1481, 1584, 1585
Stukely, 922
Sudbury, Archbishop, 487, 488
Suffolk, Earl of, minister of Henry the Sixth,
544, 545
Suffolk, Crey, Duke of (Lord Dorset), 716,
720
Suffolk, Michael de la Pole, ICarl of, 505
Sunderland, Charles, Earl of, 1556, 1562, 1569,
1589
Sunderland, Robert, Earl of, 1412, 141S, 1424,
1426, 1437, 1485
his ministerial system, 1523 1525
Supplies, grant of, made annual, 1505
Surajah Dowlah, 1647, 1648
Surrey, Henry Howard, ICarl of, 709
Surrey, John de Warrenne, Earl of, 364
Sussex, Earl of. Deputy in Ireland, 91S, 919
Sussex submits to Wulfhere, 59
to Ceadwalla, 67
to Offa, 76
Swein Estrithson, King of Denmark, 152
SwemForkbeard, King of Denmark, 115 — 117, 122
Swein, son of Godwine, 130, 131
Swithun, bishop of Winchester, 86
Sydenham, medical writer, 1304
" Tables," the, 1 103
Taillebourg, battle of, 27
Talavera, battle of, 181 1
Taunton founded, 67
Taxation regulated by Great Charter, 242
how levied, 331, 335, 336, 340
under Elizabeth, 808
arbitrary, see Benevolence, Impositions, Loan
regulated by Long Parliament, 11 19
Parliament regains control over, 1505
reduced by Walpole, 1594 — 1596
during French war, 1 769
income-tax, 1839
of America, 1664, 16S0, 1681, 1695
Papal, on the English clergy, 276, 454, 455
Taylor, Jeremy, 1308 — 1310
Taylor, Rowland, 723 — 725
Temple, Earl, 1682, 1687
Temple, Sir William, 1370
Secretary of State, 1412
his Council, 1414, 1415
agrees to the Exclusion, 1424
Tenchebray, battle of, 183
Testament, New, Erasmus's edition of, 61 8
Tewkesbury, battle of, 560
Thanet, English land in, 12, 13
Augustine lands in, 31
Theatre, first erected in London, 860
Thegn, the, 112
Theobald, Archbishop of Canterbury, 196
his court, 248
Theodore, Archbishop of Canterbury, 57 — 59
his school at Canterbury, 71
Thirty Years' War, 1 005
Thistlewood, Arthur, 183 1
"Thorough,"' Wentworth's, 1080 — 1084
Thurstan, Archbishop of York, 193
Ticonderoga, Fort, 1634, 1652
Tillotson, theologian, 1310, 1367, 1456
Archbishop of Canterbury, 1509
Tilsit, Peace of, 1806
Ti])pernniir, battle of, 1160
ri])p(jo Sahil), 1773
Tithes, 58
connnulation of, 1836
Tone, Wolf, 1783
Torgau, battle of, 1669
"Tories," their origin, 1423
attitude towards (irand Alliance, I 52('>
relalions with Marlborough, 15S5. 1550
withdraw from jjolitics, 1580, 1592
return, 1599, 166S
gfjvcrn during French war, 1S06. See Con-
servatives
Vol. I. i)p. 1—468; \u\. H. pp. 469-931 ; \m1. IH. pji. 933-I409; Yd. 1\. yy. i.jii- 1S50.
1904
INDEX
Torres Vedras, Wellington's ilefence of, 1812
Torrington, Herbert, Karl of, 151 1, 151 7
Tortiilf the Forester, 186
Tostig, son of Godwine, 13J, 146
Toulon, revolt of, 1767
Toulouse, siege of, 199
battle of, 1 82 1
Tourville, Admiral, 1517, 1521
Tower of London founded, 150
Towns, early English, 170 — 178
their privileges confirmed by Great Charter,
243
share in the Barons' War, 296
taxation of, 335, 336, 340
struggle for freedom, 369 — 372
social life, 372 — 381
strife of classes in, 381 — 385
charters cancelled by Charles the Second,
1437
self-government restored, 1 836. Sec Boroughs
Townshend, Charles, 1677
Townshend, Viscount, 1584, 1589, 1590, 1592,
1599
Township, the old English, 4, 6
Towton, battle of, 554
Trade, English, under Eadgar, 107
under Cnut, 126, 127
under Edward the First, 387
Edward the Third, 433
Elizabeth, 782—789
with the colonies, 1594, 1661, 1680
with Spanish America, 1601
in coal and iron, 1729 — 1731
Buonaparte's efforts to check, 1792, 1803 —
1805, 1808
Huskisson's and Canning's policy towards,
1832
freedom of, 1842, 1843
Board of, 1527
Irish, 1739, 1779, 1782. .9t't' Slave-trade
Trafalgar, battle of, 1801
Trent, Council of, 708, 969
Tresham, Francis, 986
Trevanion, Sir John, 1146
Trichinopoly relieved by Clive, 1631
Tromp, Admiral, 1225, 1228, 1259
Troyes, Treaty of, 525
Trumwine, Bishop of Abercorn, 63, 66
Tudor, House of, its claim to the Crown, 585.
See Richmond
Turgot, annalist of Durham, 222
Twysden, 800
Tyler, Wat, 486, 488—490
Tyndalc, William, 695, 696
Tyrconnell, Earl of, 1455, 1498 — 1500
Udall, author of Marprelate tracts, 964
Ulm, capitulation of, 1801
Ulster, Plantation of, 927
Universities, their rise, 247
relation to feudalism, 257 — 260
to the Church, 260, 261
influence of New Learning on, 608, 609
consulted on Henry the Eighth's divorce, 659
Universities — continued.
struggle with James the Second, 1459 — 1461
religious tests abolished in, 1848
Uriconium, 20
Usher, Archbishop, 1081, 1 130
Utrecht, Treaty of, 1570
Uxbridge, Treaty of, 1170
Vacarius, 248
Val-cs-Dunes, battle of, 140
V^alley Forge, battle of, 1704
Vane, Sir Harry, the elder, 1242
Vane, Sir Harry, the younger, supports Inde-
pendents, 1 131, 1 185
negotiates at Edinburgh, 1149
organizes navy, 121 2
his policy, 1222, 1223
quarrel with Cromwell, 1229 — 1 23 1
offered seat in Council, 1234
share in union with Scotland, 1249
excluded from pardon, 1321
executed, 1328
Varangians, 151
Varaville, battle of, 142
Vaudois, massacre of, 1267
Verden, dispute about, 1588
Vere, Sir Horace, 1007
Verneuil, battle of, 535
Verney, Sir Edmund, 11 28
Vernon, Admiral, 1603, 1605
Vervins, Treaty of, 891
\ espucci, Amerigo, his travels, 594, 624
Victoria, Queen, 1838
Villeins, 470, 471
become copy-holders, 472
revolt, 480 — 491
excluded from school and college, 501
decline, 499
Vimiera, battle of, 1809
Vinegar Hill, battle of, 1773, 1785
Virginia discovered, 1046
settled, ib., 1048
Vitoria, battle of, 1820
Volunteers, English, 1846
Irish, 1714, 1781
Wage, 226
Wagram, battle of, 181 1
Wakefield, battle of, 553
Walcheren expedition, 1811
Walcourt, battle of, 1494
W'ales, William the First's dealings with, 165
its literature, 306 — 309
relations with England, 309 — 312
revival in twelfth century, 313 — 318
conquest of, 320 — 322
statute of, 321
revolt in, 515, 516
Wallace, William, 365—368
Waller, Sir William, 1146, 1168
Wallingford, Treaty of, 197
Wallington, Nehemiah, 943
Wallis, Captam, 1660
Vol. I. pp. I — 468 ; Vol. II. pp. 469 — 931 ; Vol. HI. pp. 933 — 1409; Vol. IV. pp. 1411- 1S50.
INDEX
1905
Wallis, Dr., 1297, 129S
Walpole, Sir Robert, 15S2 — 1584
his offices in Townshend ministry, 1584
resigns, 1589
opposes Peerage Bill, 1590
returns to office, ih.
his peace policy, 1592, 1593
finance, 1594— 1597
greed of power, 1599
attitude in Polish war, ib.
towards Spain, 1603
fall, 1605
Walter, Hubert, see Hubert
Walters, Lucy, 1355
Walworth, William, 490
Wanborough, battle of, 68
Wandewash, battle of, 1707
Warbeck, Perkin, 587, 588
Ward, Dr., mathematician, 1298
Warham, Archbishop of Canterbury, friend of the
New Learning, 602 — 604
protects Church reformers, 610
supports Erasmus, 616
his share in submission of the clerg)-, 662
death, 664
Warwick, Earl of, son of Clarence, 587
Warwick, Earl of, Protector, 712. Sec North-
umberland
Warwick. Earl of, buys Connecticut valley, iioi
commander of the fleet, 11 39
Warwick, Neville, Earl of (the King-maker), 549,
553, 554
his character and position, 555 — 557
policy, 558, 559
death, 559
Washington, English capture of, 1822
Washington, George, 1633, 1652, 1699 — 1701,
1703, 1704, 1712
Waterloo, battle of, 1824 — 1827
Watling Street, 92
Watt, James, 1731
Wearmouth, monastery at, 55
Wedmore, peace of, 89, 90
Wellesley, Marquis, 181 1
Wellesley, Sir Arthur, 1809, 181 1. .St'^ Welling-
ton
Wellington, Lord {see Wellesley), campaign in
Portugal, 181 2
in .Spain, 1818, 1820
in France, 1821
in Belgium, 1824 — 1826
(Duke of) his ministry, 1833— 1835
Welsh, their alliance with Penda, 39
submit to Offa, 76, 82
to Ecgberht, 82
to /Ethel Stan, 102
Wentworth, Peter, 810
Wenlworth, Thomas, 994, 1033
his policy, 1079 — 1081, 1099 — iioi
Deputy in Ireland, 108 1 — 1084. Sec Strafford
Wesley, Charles, 1614
Wesley, John, 1614 — 1617
Wessex, kingdom of, 19, 20
its extent, 34
submits to Oswald's overlordship, 44
Wessex — continued.
becomes Christian, 44
ravaged by Wulfhere, 59
revival under Centwine, Ceadwalla, and Ine,
66, 67
struggle with Mercia, 67 — 69, 78, 82, 83
attacked by northmen, 86
by Danes, 88
revival under yElfred, 90 — 98
fall, 113 — 117
earldom of, 123
Westminster Abbey, 271, 387, 388
Assembly and Confession, i i8r
Parliament settled at, 344
Provisions of, 294
Weston, Lord Treasurer, 1039, 1070, 1085
Wharton, Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland, 1565
Whiggamore raid, 1 198
" Whigs,"' their origin, 119S, 1423
support war against France, 1526
relations with Mailborough, 1562 — 1565
their long rule, 1580 — 1582
factions under Walpole, 1599
reunited under Pelham, 1624
oppose Pitt, 1669
divisions under Rockingham, 1720
the "Old," 1763
return to power, 1835, 1843, 1844
Whitby, abbey of, 52
synod of, 55, 56
Whitefield, 1613, 1614, 1616
W^hite Ship, wreck of the, 184
Whitgift, Archbishop, 958, 963, 966
Wiglaf, King of Mercia, 82, 83
Wilberforce, William, 1742
Wilfrid of York, 55
Wilkes, John, 1678, 1687 — 1690
Wilkins, Dr., 1297
William the Conqueror, Duke of Normandy,
139, 140
war with France, 141
subdues Maine and Britanny, 142
his rule in Normandy, ib.
marriage, 143
relations with Lanfranc, ib., 144
visits F^ngland, 144
his claims, ib.
lands at Pevensey, 146
victory at Senlac, 148, 149
crowned, 150
his con(|uest of England, 151 — 154
dealings with feudalism, 154 — 156
administration, 156 — 158
Church ]iolicy, 158 — 161
revolts against him, 152 — 154, 164
his rule, 164, 165
bridles .Scotland and Wales, 165
death, 166
William Rufus, King, 166
revolts against him, ib.
struggle with the Church, 167, 168
Continental wars, i68
dealings with Scotland, //'.
with Wales, //;., 312
death, 168
Vol. I. pp. 1—468; \'<j|. II. ])]). 469— 931; \'ol. III. jip. 933- i4oy ; Vol. 1\'. pji. 1411 — 1S50,
1906
INDEX
William the Third, Prince of Orange, 1379, 1390,
1473 -1475.
proposed marriage, 1397
defeat at Cassel, 1400
marriage, 1402
poliey in Kngland, 1425, 142S, 1477 — 1479
on the Continent, 1475 — '477
invited to England, 1481
lands, i486
King, 1491
forms (Jrand Alliance, 1492
dealings with Scotland, 1494 — 149S
with the Church, 1507 — 1509
campaign in Ireland, 15 14, 1 5 15
in Flanders, 15 19
motives for peace of Ryswick, 1532
last struggle with Lewis, 1536 — 1539
death, 1545
William the Fourth, King, 1835, 1838
William the .Etheling, 184
William the Lion, King of Scots, invades Eng-
land, 209
homage to Henry the Second, 359
released from it by Richard, ib.
William, son of Robert of Normandy, 183, 185, 192
William of the Long Beard, 3S2, 383
Williams, Bishop of Lincoln, 1130, 1132
Williams, Roger, 1065
Willis, physiologist, 1304
Wiltshire, Earl of, 647
Winchelsey, Archbishop of Canterbury, 395
Winchester surrendered to the Conqueror, 149
Statute of, 327
Winchester, Marquis of, 11 73, 1 174
Windebank, Secretary of State, 1119
Windham, leader of " Old Whigs," 1764
Winfrith, see Boniface
Winthrop, John, 1052
Winwaid, battle of, 47
Wippedsfleet, battle of, 17
Witenagemot, the, 112, 113
Wither, George, 1094
Witt, John de, 1473
Wolfe, General, 1652 — 1655
Wolsey, Thomas, 633
his foreign jjolicy, il>.
his offices, 635
educational foundations, 609, 635 — 637
administration, 637
financial measures, 640, 641
struggle with Parliament, ib.
conduct in the king's divorce case, 647, 648
fall, 649, 650
results of his career, 650, 651
Woodviile, Fli/abetii, see Grey
Woodward, mineralogist, 1304
Worcester, battle of, 12 18
Worcester, Tiploft, Farl of, 533, 582 — 5S4
Wulfhere, King of Mercia, 59, 60
Wulfstan, Archl)ishoii of York, 103, 106
Wulfstan, Bishop of Worcester, 166
Wulfstan's voyage, 94
Wyatt, Sir Thomas, 720
Wycherly, 1291
Wyclif, John, 452, 453
his i)lans of reform, 458 — 460
charged with heresy, 460, 461
his " poor preachers,"' 461, 464
denies Transubstantiation, 463
his writings, //;.
condenmed, 464
death, 468
translation of the Bible, //;.
its effects, 504
influence in Bohemia, 508
Wykeham, William of. Bishop of Winchester,
449—451
Wyndham, Sir William, 1580, 1585, 1586
York concjuered by the Deiri, 23
by Cadwallon, 41
revolts against William the First, 152, 153
massacre of Jews at, 392
Parliament at, 401
siege of, 1 155— "57
York, Duke of, joins Henry the Fourth, 509
York, Frederick, Duke of, 1766
York, James, Duke of, Lord Admiral, 1319
marries Anne Hyde, 1366, 1456
conversion, 1372, 1373
fight with De Ruyter, 1379
resigns ofiice, 1 38 1
second marriage, 139 1
plans for his succession, 1416, 1425, 1427
see James the Second
York, New, its origin, 1661
York, Richard, Duke of, Regent in France for
Henry the Sixth, 544
rivalry with Henry, 548 — 550
death, 553
York, Richard, Duke of, son of Edward the
Fourth, 584
York Town, surrender of Cornwallis at, 1712
Zaragoza, sieges of, 1810
Zorndorf, battle of, 1649
Zutphen, battle of, 832
Vol. L pp. I — 468 ; Vol. H. pp. 469—931 ; Vol. HL pp. 933 — 1409 ; Vol. IV. pp. 1411 — 1850.
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