dalous negotiations" in a memorial presented to the English ambassador at Madrid, and in a still more stirring document presented to the council of regency, or lords-justices, who managed affairs during William's absence. When this second me

ambassador was informed by Secretary Vernon that his master found its contents so insolent and seditious that he must order him to quit his dominions within eighteen days. At the same time orders were despatched to Madrid, commanding Mr. Stanhope to cease all diplomatic intercourse with that court, and return home. All this was sure gain to France, and it encouraged the shallow

or how to resign their point, to complain of the insolence of England and Holland in presuming to divide and parcel out the monarchy of Spain.

William himself returned home on the 18th of October, to find a dispirited and breaking ministry. Montague, the chancellor of the exchequer, resigned, and Lord Tankerville, better known under his former title of Lord Grey of Werk, was placed at the head of the treasury, one Smith, another of the commissioners, being made chancellor of the exchequer. Of the real Whigs, not one remained at his post except Lord Somers, the chancellor, and the Duke of Shrewsbury, who was induced to accept the office of lord-chamberlain, previously held by Sunderland

young Bavarian to the counsellors of state and presidents of the supreme tribunals of Spain, informing them that his choice of a successor had been guided solely by motives of conscience and justice, and by the advice of the most learned and upright men in his kingdom. The French ambas-morial was transmitted to the Loo, the Spanish sador complained and protested; but the Count of Oropesa reminded him that Louis XIV., on his marriage, had consented to the renunciation of the Spanish crowns made by his queen, the Infanta Maria Theresa, and that hence the right had passed to Maria Theresa's younger sister, the Infanta Margarita, grandmother to the young Prince of Bavaria, who had never been bound to make any such renunciation of the Spanish suc-headed Austrians, who neither knew how to gain cession.' But the young Bavarian had been scarcely named in the will and declaration when he suddenly fell sick and died, in the eighth year of his age. The bereaved father, the elector, who had been indulging in the most brilliant prospects for himself and family, suspected that his son had been carried off by poison, and in his agony he charged the French king with the diabolical act. But as the young prince had been equally an obstacle to the pretensions of his grandfather, the Emperor Leopold, or to his scheme of devolving his own claims to the succession upon his second son, the Archduke Charles, it was reported in France that the young Bavarian had perished in consequence of means employed by the Austrian cabinet.' This unexpected death not only rendered nugatory the first partition treaty, which had cost William so much pains and so much obloquy, but also, and in various ways, favoured the plans of Louis. From this moment, indeed, it was a struggle of intrigue, deception, bribery, and corruption between France and Austria-a sort of struggle in which the French have generally defeated all antagonists. William must have been miserably served by his diplomatic agents at Madrid, else he should have known what was going on there, and that knowledge would have prevented him from engaging with the insidious Louis in a new partition treaty, for which the French, pretty sure of their game by other cards, pretended a great earnestness so soon as the death of the Bavarian prince was known. And this time the emperor, apparently fearing the result of the struggle going on at Madrid, was fain to lower his pretensions and to correspond with the negotiators who met round William, Portland, and De Tallard, at the Loo. But these negotiations, like the preceding ones, were soon made known to the Spanish court. The dying king had still spirit enough left to remonstrate in strong terms against these "scan-miralty, the Duke of Shrewsbury, Lord Romney,

-a household appointment, but one which had never been filled in this reign except by an individual in possession of great influence and authority in council. On the 16th November, William opened the session of parliament with a speech in which every expression was carefully avoided that might give any cause of offence, but which, notwithstanding, like many other such speeches, was received with murmuring and discontent.

The Tories were resolved, at all hazards, to drive Lord Somers from his almost solitary post, and, "after much casting about," they accused the lord high-chancellor of being a pirate on the high seas! If it had been a few ages earlier they would probably have accused him of witchcraft and dealing with the devil. Some short time before, upon representations made to the king by Lord Bellamont, governor of New York, that the American coast and islands were sorely infested by corsairs, William had countenanced a scheme for fitting out a ship of war by private subscription, to be sent to look after those marauders. There was nothing illegal or even irregular in this letter of marque; Somers the chancellor, the Earl of Orford, the head of the ad

and others, contributed to the fund; and, at the

A tenth of the profits made upon prizes, &c., was reserved for the crown, as usual when privateers were commissioned.

recommendation of Lord Bellamont, Captain | computation of six years' purchase for a life, and Kydd, said to be a native of Greenock, but thirteen years for the inheritance, came to the long a resident of New York, and a very able full value of £2,685,138. That some of those sailor, was appointed to the command of the lands had been restored to the old proprietors, by Adventure Galley, which was well manned, and virtue of the articles of Limerick and Galway, armed with thirty guns. In addition to the and by his majesty's favour, and by reversal of usual letter of marque given to privateers, the outlawries, and royal pardons, obtained chiefly captain was furnished with a warrant under the by gratifications to such persons as had abused great seal, authorizing him to make war upon his majesty's royal bounty and compassion: and and destroy the pirates,' &c.; but the choice of that besides these restitutions, which they thought the commander was singularly unfortunate in a to be corruptly procured, there were seventy-six very material respect, for Kydd, who had pro- grants and custodiums, under the great seal of bably been a buccaneer before, turned downright Ireland, of which they made a recital: as-to pirate as soon as he got into the American seas. the Lord Romney,3 three grants, now in being, This was reversing the case of Captain Morgan, containing 49,517 acres; to the Earl of Albein the days of Charles II., who was proclaimed marle, in two grants, 106,633 acres in possession to be hanged as a pirate first, and knighted and and reversion; to William Bentinck, Esq., Lord made governor of Jamaica afterward. Lord Woodstock,' 135,820 acres of land; to the Earl of Bellamont, however, had at last succeeded in Athlone, two grants, containing 26,480 acres; to taking his protégé and several of his crew the Earl of Galway, one grant of 36,148 acres, &c. prisoners, and was ready to send him over to That, indeed, the estates so mentioned did not England for trial. Nevertheless, the commons, yield so much to the grantees as they were valued on the 6th of December, agreed to a motion, at; because, as most of them had abused his ma"That the letters- patent granted to the Earl jesty in the real value of their estates, so their of Bellamont and others were dishonourable to agents had imposed on them, and had either the king, against the law of nations, contrary sold or let the greatest part of those lands at an to the laws and statutes of this realm, invasive under value: but that, after all deductions and of property, and destructive of trade and com- allowances, there yet remained £1,699,343, 148., merce." A long and shrewd debate followed, the which they laid before the commons as the gross Tories striving to make it appear that Somers had value of the estates forfeited since the 13th day wittingly affixed the great seal to Kydd's com- of February, 1689, and not restored. It further mission, in order to enrich himself, his friends, appeared from the report presented, that Wiland his sovereign, by the fruits of piracy; but, liam had conferred the forfeited Irish estates of “having aggravated their charge to the end that the late King James, estimated at 95,649 acres, it might ring the louder, they were so much less worth £25,995 a-year, upon Mrs. Elizabeth Vilable to verify any part of it. . . The chan- liers, Countess of Orkney, his mistress or favourcellor's character for wisdom and integrity had ite lady. Upon this point the commissioners had as yet such weight with the house, that no impu- quarrelled most violently and it is evident that tation would stick; and upon the issue the mo- the majority had exaggerated the extent of the tion was rejected, though the clamour was not grant, and had purposely lost sight of many leases let fall." and annuities with which it was charged. To But the point upon which the Tories laid still every moderate and well-informed man, whether greater stress was an inquiry, ordered the preced-in Ireland or in England, it was evident that the ing session, into William's grants of the Irish forfeitures. Seven commissioners had been appointed, who were all presumed to be anti-courtiers. Their report stated that it appeared to them, that the persons outlawed in England, since the 13th of February, 1689, on account of the late rebellion, amounted in number to fifty-seven, and in Ireland to 3921. That all the lands in the several counties in Ireland, belonging to the forfeited persons, as far as they could reckon, made 1,660,792 acres, worth, per annum, £211,623, which by

'The commission or letter of marque from the admiralty, dated January 20th, 1695, authorized Kydd to act against the French, with whom we were then at open war; the commission under the great seal authorized him to make war on certain notorious pirates therein named, and all other pirates infesting the coast of America and other seas. 2 Ralph.

commissioners had drawn up this report in the spirit of faction, and that the report contained gross exaggerations and downright falsehoods.

A.D. 1700.

To work up a counter-storm, Montague, who had so lately resigned his chancellorship of the exchequer, but who still clung to his party and to the king, on the 15th of January rose in the house and bitterly

state of former times, and he who had done so much to bring William into England.

3 This Lord Romney was the Henry Sidney and secretary of

4 This Earl of Albemarle was William's present favourite, and a graceful and accomplished courtier. He was the son of Pelling, Lord Keppel of Gelderland, who was raised from being a page to the highest offices; and was made Earl of Albemarle and knight of the Garter in 1696.

5 This was the son of Lord Portland.

6 General Ginckel,

7 Rouvigny, the French Huguenot, and an excellent officer.

"That there have been divers groundless and scandalous aspersions cast upon Francis Annesley, John Trenchard, James Hamilton, and Henry Langford, Esquires, four of the commissioners for the Irish forfeitures, the said four commissioners having acquitted themselves with understanding, courage, and integrity: that Sir Richard Leving, another of the said commissioners, has been the author of the said groundless and scan dalous reports, &c., and that the said Sir Richard Leving shall be committed to the Tower of London for the said offence." And Sir Richard was committed accordingly.

complained that Mr. Arthur Moore, a member Francis Brewster, "ill language." "But my lanof that house, had written a letter to the com- guage," continued Brewster, "was not so bad, missioners, urging them to make a separate and but he was forced to beg my pardon at the board strong article of my Lady Orkney's grants, "be- and I did not his. There he stands; let him deny cause they might reflect upon somebody." This it if he can." But Trenchard not only denied somebody was, of course, the king; and Montague the words, but brought Langford and Annesley insisted that this deserved the censure of parlia- to do the same. The letters of Arthur Moore ment. The Tories treated the charge slightingly, and Mr. Harcourt were, however, produced and and called upon Montague to produce his wit- read, but no record of these documents has been nesses to the letter. He pleaded the obligations preserved. Upon the whole matter the triumwhich lay upon him as a man of honour not to phant majority came to the following resolution: discover parties who had trusted him with the information in private conversation; but the house insisted, and, no excuse being allowed, Montague named Methuen, Chancellor of Ireland, as his informer. But this Methuen denied having ever mentioned any such thing; and then, in the midst of the perplexity and confusion of the court party, their adversaries put and instantly carried a vote, that the said report about Mr. Arthur Moore's letter was false and scandalous; and that the said commissioners had acquitted themselves with understanding and integrity. But three out of the seven commissioners, who had been outvoted while sitting on the commission, insisted upon being heard. Of this minority, Sir Richard Leving was called in first. He represented the great differences of opinion which had existed among the commissioners as to many points of the report, which was not and could not be considered as a cool and rational document. He declared that he had stated to all the commissioners, that the king's private estate in Ireland being part and parcel of the possessions of the crown of England, and the crown being vested in King William and Queen Mary by act of parliament, all the said pos- | sessions were necessarily invested in them together with the crown-and that, as a consequence, the king might dispose of the lands. Sir Richard Leving then went on to accuse severally the ma- | jority of four of disrespectful and violent language. He affirmed, for example, that Langford, one of the four, had said, with reference to the exact time of James's forfeiture, that "the 30th of January was a good day and a good deed” (it was the anniversary of the decapitation of Charles I.); that when Lord Drogheda, one of the minority, said that the report of Lady Orkney's grant would be flying in the king's face, Hamilton, who was on the other side, replied, "If you will not fly in his face, you cannot execute this commission;" that Trenchard and Annesley said they had letters of advice from Mr. Arthur Moore and Mr. Harcourt, urging them to reflect upon somebody, even as Mr. Montague had mentioned. Sir Francis Brewster, another of the minority of three, confirmed these statements, adding, moreover, that Trenchard had called the grant to Lady Orkney, "a villainous grant," and had given him, Sir

After this manifest victory the Tories brought in their famous "Bill of Resumption," by which the Irish forfeitures were to be applied to the use of the public, without any regard paid to the reservation of a third part to the king, which had been part of the bill they had sent up eight years before to the lords. Ministers proposed the insertion of a clause for reserving at least some portion of the said forfeitures to be at the free disposal of his majesty; but they would not hear this proposition out, and proceeded to give another blow, by resolving that the advising, procuring, and passing the grants in Ireland had been the occasion of contracting great debts and laying heavy taxes upon the people; that the said grants highly reflected upon the king's honour; and that the officers and instruments concerned in procuring and passing them had highly failed in the performance of their trust and duty. Not satisfied with all this, the commons, on the 6th of February, moved in more explicit terms that the procuring of grants belonging to the crown, by any public minister, for his own use or benefit, was highly injurious to his majesty, prejudicial to the state, and a violation of the trust reposed in him. But here the Tories had committed themselves upon unsafe ground; and the Whigs, adopting the motion, retaliated upon their adversaries by attaching to it a very significant amendment- -a kind of resumption of their own, based upon the same principles as the original Tory bill, and which that party had not the effrontery to resist. The proposition was simply this :-"To resume the grants of all lands and revenues of the crown, and all pensions granted

by the crown since the 6th of February, 1684, | the only question was, whether he should proand for applying the same to the use of the public." The 6th of February was the inauspicious day of James II.'s accession; and from that day, down to the night of his flight from England, the Tories had monopolized the favours, grants, and pensions of the crown, and they were now bound to disgorge them all. It was known that, in the upper house, "the king was a little more civilly used," and it was feared that there the resumption bill would be thrown out altogether. To prevent this the commons had again recourse to the device of making it part of a money bill; and they appended the resumption to the grant of a land-tax, the produce of which was indispensable for the payment of the fleet and army. The lords were indignant at this proceeding, which in a manner tied their hands and tongues; but, encouraged by the court, they ventured to oppose the bill, and to offer some amendments, which were just and reasonable in themselves, and suited to check an immense amount of wrong to private individuals who had bought property in Ireland from the grantees, &c. When the lords sent down their amendments to the commons they rejected them, and gave their reasons in a paper which was delivered at a conference of the two houses. The lords then prepared answers to these reasons, and in a second conference presented them in writing; but the managers for the commons declined pursuing this course of literary argument, and left the bill in the hands of their lordships, who were warned on many sides that they must pass it or bring on a perilous crisis. The king became sullen upon all this; on the 5th of April he told Lord Portland that, if the bill was not stopped in the upper house, he should count all as lost; and on the same day he declared that he was resolved not to pass the bill, and that

rogue the parliament on the morrow or Monday next. Yet, when he coolly reflected upon all the bearings of the case and the danger of further resistance, he solicited the lords by a private message to pass the bill; and the lords having consented, not without some pangs, in which their own purses were concerned, he went down to the house, and gave the royal assent without a murmur on the 11th of April.' But immediately after passing the other bills that were in readiness, he commanded the Earl of Bridgewater, in the absence of Chancellor Somers, who was sick, to prorogue the parliament, which was accordingly done without the speech which was usual on such occasions.*

William wrote to Lord Galway (Rouvigny, the French Huguenot, "You may judge what vexation all their extraordinary proceedings give me : and, I assure you, your being deprived of what I gave you with so much pleasure is not the least of my griefs. There have been so many intrigues in this last session, that, without having been on the spot and well informed of everything, it cannot be conceived. . . . . I never had more occasion than at present for persons of your capacity and fidelity.

Towards the close of the session another attempt had been made to couple Somers with Captain Kydd; but a motion for his removal had been negatived; and the house satisfied themselves with examining copies of the several commissions given to Kydd, of his majesty's warrant for a grant of the prizes taken from pirates to the Earl of Bellamont and others, of an indenture between his majesty and Bellamont; of a letter from the lords of the treasury to that governor about sending over the property seized in Kydd's ship; and with bringing in a bill for the more effectual suppression of piracy; followed by an address, upon information of Kydd being on his way home, that he might not be tried, discharged, or pardoned until the next session of parliament. But, before they could hang the pirate, Chancel| lor Somers was dismissed, or reluctantly resigned the great seal-thus leaving the cabinet in Tory hands. The seals were soon after given, with the title of lord-keeper, to Sir Nathan Wright, an obscure Tory serjeant-at-law-"in whom there was nothing equal to the post, much less to him who had lately filled it.”

I hope I shall yet find opportunities to give you marks of my esteem and friendship."-Tindal; Ralph; Sir Henry Ellis, in his Collection, gives the original in French, as it is preserved, entirely in William's handwriting, in the British Museum.

2 At the very moment the commons were preparing a resolution, "That an address be made to his majesty that no person not a native, except the Prince of Denmark, should be admitted to his majesty's councils in England or Ireland."

CHAPTER VI.-CIVIL AND MILITARY HISTORY.-A. D. 1700-1702.

WILLIAM III.

Meeting of the Scottish parliament-Their vote to continue the land forces-Effectual interference of William in behalf of Sweden against Denmark-The second partition treaty-Intrigues of France to obtain the monarchy of Spain-Contentions of different parties upon this attempt-Philip of Anjou appointed successor to the Spanish crown-Exertions of Louis XIV. to effect this result-Proceedings of the new English parliament— The British succession disturbed by the death of the Duke of Gloucester-Visit of the Electress of Hanover to England in consequence-Discussion of the question of peace or war in parliament-The kingdom put in a state of defence-Conflicting deliberations among the European powers about going to war with France Opposition of the English parliament to the second partition treaty-Their attacks on the Earl of Portland and Lord Somers-Case of Captain Kydd again brought forward-Vote of the House of Commons against the adherents of the partition treaty-Counter address of the lords-Increasing difficulties of William-Economical measures adopted in the prospect of a war with France-Declarations of the lords and commons on the subject-The singular address to parliament called the "Legion Memorial"-Its wonderful effect on parliament -Impeachment of Lord Somers-The new succession bill-Particulars of its passing through parliamentImpeachment of Lord Somers resumed-He is acquitted-William departs to Holland-New treaty called the "Second Grand Alliance" signed-War in Italy-Victories of Prince Eugene-Death of James II. at St. Germain-Sickness of William-His difficulties-Changes in his ministry-William's address at the opening of parliament-Zeal and unanimity produced by his speech-Resolutions to resume the war against France-Supplies voted for the purpose-Accident to William-It occasions his last illness-His messages to parliament-His death-His character.