The candle to light their pipes, that indulgence was refused. At six in the morning the single juryman who had till then held out, (and who is said to have been the king's brewer,) yielded to the determination of his fellows, and a verdict of not guilty was returned. It was received with a shout which seemed to shake the hall. people had not conducted themselves with propriety during the trial; they had insulted the witnesses for the prosecution, and evinced a temper ready for greater outrages. Their exultation was unbounded now; and the acquittal was announced in the city, by acclamations of tumultuous and triumphant joy, which outstript the speediest messengers. The prelates, with a feeling of becoming gratitude, went immediately to Whitehall Chapel to return thanks; all the churches were filled with people who crowded to them for the same intent; the bells rung from every tower, every house was illuminated, and bonfires were kindled in every street. Medals were struck in honour of the event, and portraits hastily published, and eagerly purchased, of men who were compared to the seven golden candlesticks, and called the seven stars of the protestant church. : The king was in the camp at Hounslow when the verdict was pronounced, and asking the cause of a stir among the soldiers, was told it was nothing but their rejoicing for the acquittal of the bishops. "Do you call that nothing?" he replied; "but so much the worse for them!" His presence in some degree repressed them; but no sooner had he left the camp, than they set up a shout, which, if further evidence had been needful, might have told him how impossible it was for him to overthrow the laws and the religion of England. His eyes were not yet opened to his danger and persisting in his purpose, he dismissed the two judges who had delivered their opinion in favour of the bishops, and required, through the ecclesiastical commissioners, the names of all the clergy who had omitted to read his declaration. This was so far from intimidating them, that even of those who had read it, no small proportion declared from the pulpit their disapprobation of what they had read. And upon this occasion Sprat, the bishop of Rochester, who had hitherto acted in the commission, withdrew from it, saying in a letter he could act in it no longer for though he had obeyed the order of council himself, thinking himself bound in conscience so to do, he doubted not that those who had not obeyed, acted upon the same principle of following their conscience, and he would rather suffer with them, than concur in making them suffer. This conduct in a prelate who had been thought too pliant to the court, made the commissioners adjourn, and events soon put an end to that illegal jurisdiction. : WORDSWORTH. ACQUITTAL OF THE BISHOPS. A voice, from long expecting thousands sent, Up, down, the busy Thames-rapid as fire, And transport finds in every street a vent, Till the whole city rings like some vast quire. The fathers urge the people to be still With outstretched hands and earnest speech in vain! Yea, many, haply wont to entertain Small reverence for the mitre's offices, And to religion's self no friendly will, A prelate's blessing ask on bended knees. THE LANDING OF WILLIAM III. PART I. BISHOP BURNET. In the beginning of October the troops marched from Nimeguen were put on board in the Zuyder sea, where they lay above ten days before they could get out of the Texel. Never was so great a design executed in so short a time. A transport fleet of five hundred vessels was hired in three days' time. All things, as soon as they were ordered, were got to be so quickly ready, that we were amazed at the dispatch. It is true, some things were wanting, and some things had been forgot. But when the greatness of the equipage was considered, together with the secrecy with which it was to be conducted till the whole design was to be avowed, it seemed much more strange that so little was wanting, or that so few things had been forgot. Benthink, Dykvelt, Herbert, and Van Hulst, were for two months constantly at the Hague, giving all necessary orders, with so little noise that nothing broke out all that while. Even in lesser matters favourable circumstances concurred to cover the design. Benthink used to be constantly with the prince, being the person that was most entirely trusted and constantly employed by him; so that his absence from him, being so extraordinary a thing, might have given some umbrage. But all the summer his lady was so very ill, that she was looked on every day as one that could not live three days to an end; so that this was a very just excuse for his attendance at the Hague. I waited on the princess a few days before we left the Hague. She seemed to have a great load on her spirits, but to have no scruple as to the lawfulness of the design. After much other discourse, I said, that if we got safe to England, I made no great doubt of our success in all other things. I only begged her pardon to tell her, that if there should happen to be at any time any disjointing between the prince and her, that would ruin all. She answered me that I needed fear no such thing; if any person should attempt that, she would treat them so, as to discourage all others from venturing on it for the future. She was very solemn and serious, and prayed God earnestly to bless and direct us. On the sixteenth of October, O. S. the wind that had stood so long in the west, came into the east. So orders were sent to all to haste to Helvoet-Sluys. That morning the prince went into the assembly of the states general, to take leave of them. He said to them, he was extreme sensible of the kindness they had all shewed him upon many occasions; he took God to witness, he had served them faithfully, ever since they had trusted him with the government, and that he had never any end before his eyes but the good of the country: he had pursued it always; and if at any time he erred in his judgment, yet his heart was ever set on procuring their safety and prosperity. He took God to witness, he went to England with no other intentions, but those he had set out in his declaration; he did not know how God might dispose of him; to his providence he committed himself; whatsoever might become of him, he committed to them the care of their country, and recommended the princess to them in a most particular manner; he assured them, she loved their country perfectly, and equally with her own; he hoped, that whatever might happen to him, they would still protect her, and use her as she well deserved; and so he took leave. It was a sad but a kind parting. Some of every province offered at an answer to what the prince had said; but they all melted into tears and passion; so that their speeches were much broken, very short, and extreme tender. Only the prince himself continued firm in his usual gravity and phlegm. When he came to Helvoet-Sluys, the transport fleet had consumed so much of their provisions, that three days of the good wind were lost, before all were supplied anew. At last, on the nineteenth of October, the prince went aboard, and the whole fleet sailed out that night. But the next day the wind turned into the north, and settled in the north-west. At night a great storm rose. We wrought against it all that night, and the next day. But it was in vain to struggle any longer. And so vast a fleet run no small hazard, being obliged to keep together, and yet not to come too near one another. On the twenty-first in the afternoon the signal was given to go in again; and on the twenty-second the far greater part got safe into port. Many ships were at first wanting, and were believed to be lost. But after a few days all came in. There was not one ship lost; nor so much as any one man, except one that was blown from the shrouds into the sea. Some ships were so shattered, that as soon as they came in, and all was taken out of them, they immediately sunk down. Only five hundred horses died for want of air. Men are upon such occasions apt to flatter themselves upon the points of Providence. In France and England, as it was believed that our loss was much greater than it proved to be, so they triumphed not a little, as if God had fought against us, and defeated the whole design. We on our part, who found ourselves delivered out of so great a storm and so vast a danger, looked on it as a mark of God's great care of us, who, though he had not changed the course of the winds and seas in our favour, yet had preserved us while we were in such apparent danger, beyond what could have been imagined. The states were not at all discouraged with this hard beginning, but gave the necessary orders for supplying us with every thing that we needed. The princess behaved herself at the Hague suitably to what was expected from her. She ordered prayers four times a day, and assisted at them with great devotion. She spoke to nobody of affairs, but was calm and silent. The states ordered some of their body to give her an account of all their proceedings. She indeed answered little; but in that little she gave them cause often to admire her judgment. In England the court saw now, that it was in vain to dissemble or disguise their fears any more. Great consultations were held there. The earl of Melfort, and all the papists, proposed the seizing on all suspected persons, and the sending them to Portsmouth. The earl of Sunderland opposed this vehemently. He said it would not be possible to seize on many at the same time; and the seizing on a few would alarm all the rest; it would drive them in to the prince, and furnish them with a pretence for it; he proposed rather, that the king would do such popular things, as might give some content, and lay that fermentation with which the nation was then as it were distracted. This was at that time complied with; but all the popish party continued upon this to charge lord Sunderland, as one that was in the king's counsels only to betray them; that had before diverted the offer of assistance from France, and now the securing those who were the most likely to join and assist the prince. By their importunities the king was at last so prevailed on, that he turned him out of all his places; and lord Preston was made secretary of state. The fleet was now put out, and was so strong, that, if they had met the Dutch fleet, probably they would have been too hard for them, especially considering the great transport * The duke of Shandos told me, as a thing he knew to be true, that the king of France wrote to king James, to let him know that he had certain intelligence that the design was upon England, and that he would immediately besiege Maestricht, which would hinder the states from parting with any of their force for such an expedition; but the secret must be kept inviolably from any of his ministers. Soon after, the states ordered six thousand men to be sent to Maestricht; upon which the king of France desired to know if king James had revealed it to any body, for he himself had to none but Louvoy, and if he had betrayed him, should treat him accordingly. King James's answer was, that he never told it to any body but lord Sunderland, who, he was very sure, was too much in his interest to have discovered it upon which the king of France said, he saw plainly, that king James was a man cut out for destruction, and there was no possibility of helping him. D. (This note has been already printed in sir John Dalrymple's Memoirs, vol. ii. p. 297.) fleet that they were to cover. All the forces that were in Scotland were ordered into England; and that kingdom was left in the hands of their militia. Several regiments came likewise from Ireland. So that the king's army was then about thirty thousand strong. But, in order to lay the heat that was raised in the nation, the king sent for the bishops; and set out the injustice of this unnatural invasion that the prince was designing; he assured them of his affections to the church of England; and protested, he had never intended to carry things further than to an equal liberty of conscience; he desired they would declare their abhorrence of this invasion, and that they would offer him their advice, what was fit for him to do. They declined the point of abhorrence, and advised the present summoning a parliament; and that in the meanwhile the ecclesiastical commission might be broken, the proceedings against the bishop of London and Magdalen college might be reversed, and that the law might be again put in its channel. This they delivered with great gravity, and with a courage that recommended them to the whole nation. There was an order sent them from the king afterwards, requiring them to compose an office for the present occasion. The prayers were so well drawn, that even those who wished for the prince might have joined in them. The church party did not show their approbation of the prince's expedition in such terms, that many were surprised at it, both then and since that time. They spoke openly in favour of it. They expressed their grief to see the wind so cross. They wished for an east wind, which on that occasion was called the protestant wind. They spoke with great scorn of all that the court was then doing to regain the hearts of the nation. And indeed the proceedings of the court that way were so cold and so forced, that few were like to be deceived by them, but those who had a mind to be deceived. The writs for a parliament were often ordered to be made ready for the seal, and were as often stopped. Some were sealed, and given out; but they were quickly called in again. The old charters were ordered to be restored again. Jefferies himself carried back the charter of the city of London, and put on the appearances of joy and heartiness when he gave it to them. All men saw through that affectation; for he had raised himself chiefly upon the advising or promoting that matter of the surrender, and the forfeiture of the charters. An order was also sent to the bishop of Winchester, to put the president of Magdalen college again in possession. that order not being executed when the news was brought that the prince and his fleet were blown back, it was countermanded; which plainly showed what it was that drove the court into so much compliance, and how long it was like to last. Yet, PART II. This was the state of affairs in England, while we lay at Helvoet-Sluys, where we continued till the first of November. Here Wildman created a new disturbance, He plainly had a shew of courage, but was, at least then, a coward. He possessed some of the English with an opinion, that the design was now irrecoverably lost. This was entertained by many, who were willing to hearken to any proposition that set danger at a distance from themselves. They were still magnifying the English fleet, and undervaluing the Dutch. They went so far in this, that they proposed to the prince, that Herbert should be ordered to go over to the coast of England, and either fight the English fleet, or force them in; and in that case the transport fleet might venture over; which otherwise they thought could not be safely done. This some urged with such earnestness, that nothing but the prince's authority, and Schomberg's credit, could have withstood it. The prince told them, the season was now so far spent, that the losing of more time was the losing the whole design; fleets might lie long in view of one another, before it could be possible for them to come to an engagement, though both sides equally desired it; but much longer, if any one of them avoided it; it was not possible to keep the army, especially the horse, long at sea; and it was no easy matter to take them all out, and to ship them again; after the wind had stood so long in the west, there was reason to hope it would turn to the east; and when that should come, no time was to be lost; for it would sometimes blow so fresh in a few days as to freeze up the river; so that it would not be possible to get out all the winter long. With these things he rather silenced than quieted them. All this while the men of war were still riding at sea, it being a continued storm for some weeks. The prince sent out several advice boats with orders to them to come in. But they could not come up to them. On the twenty-seventh of October there was for six hours together a most dreadful storm; so that there were few among us, that did not conclude, that the best part of the fleet, and by consequence that the whole design, was lost. Many, that have passed for heroes, yet shewed then the agonies of fear in their looks and whole deportment. The prince still retained his usual calmness, and the same tranquillity of spirit, that I had observed in him in his happiest days. On the twenty-eighth it calmed a little, and our fleet came all in, to our great joy. The rudder of one third-rate was broken; and that was all the hurt that the storm had done. At last the much longed for east wind came. And so hard a thing it was to set so vast a body in motion, that two days of this wind were lost before all could be quite ready. By On On the first of November, O. S. we sailed out with the evening tide; but made little way that night, that so our fleet might come out, and move in order. We tried next day till noon, if it was possible to sail northward; but the wind was so strong and full in the east, that we could not move that way. About noon the signal was given to steer westward. This wind not only diverted us from that unhappy course, but it kept the English fleet in the river; so that it was not possible for them to come out, though they were come down as far as to the Gunfleet. this means we had the sea open to us, with a fair wind and a safe navigation. the third we passed between Dover and Calais, and before night came in sight of the Isle of Wight. The next day, being the day in which the prince was both born and married, he fancied, if he could land that day, it would look auspicious to the army, and animate the soldiers. But we all, who considered, that the day following, being gunpowder treason day, our landing that day might have a good effect on the minds of the English nation, were better pleased to see that we could land no sooner. Torbay was thought the best place for our great fleet to lie in; and it was resolved to land the army, where it could be best done near it; reckoning that being at such distance from London, we could provide ourselves with horses, and put every thing in order before the king could march his army towards us, and that we should lie some time at Exeter for the refreshing our men. I was in the ship, with the prince's other domestics, that went in the van of the whole fleet. At noon on the fourth Russel came on board us with the best of all the English pilots that they had brought over. He gave him the steering of the ship; and ordered him to be sure to sail so, that next morning we should be short of Dartmouth; for it was intended that some of the ships should land there, and that the rest should sail into Torbay. The pilot thought, he could not be mistaken in measuring our course; and believed that he certainly kept within orders, till the morning shewed us we were past Torbay and Dartmouth. The wind, though it had abated much of its first violence, yet was still full in the east; so now it seemed necessary for us to sail on to Plymouth, which must have engaged us in a long and tedious campaign in winter, through a very ill country. Nor were we sure to be received at Plymouth. The earl of Bath, who was governor, had sent by Russel a promise to the prince to come |