1692. BOOK II. winter, made it expedient to think of a retreat ; and after demolishing the fortifications of Ambrun, they evacuated their conquests with a facility and rapidity not inferior to that with which they had been acquired. Hanover erected into a ninth Electorate. Machinations of the The protestant interest in Germany acquired this year an accession of strength, by the creation of a ninth electorate in favor of Ernest Augustus duke of Hanover. Renouncing its ancient connection with France, that serene House now formed new ties of amity and alliance with England; and it was in consequence of the powerful interposition of king William that the Emperor at length reluctantly consented to bestow upon it this high and envied dignity; to which was annexed the office of great marshal of the empire; but though honored with the imperial investiture, the duke was not yet admitted to take his seat in the electoral college, the unanimous assent of the electors being found unobtainable. Towards the end of October 1692 the king Jacobites. returned to England, where events of great importance had taken place in his absence. On the presumption that he would pass the summer months on the continent, the Jacobites had renewed their machinations with incredible zeal and activity. So early in the year as January, colonel Parker arrived in England, and communicated in confidence to various persons the design of assassinating the king in Flanders, and of BOOK IL making at the same time a descent upon England. 1092. He assured them that their lawful sovereign would once more visit his dominions, at the head of 30,000 men, to be embarked at La Hogue, the transports being already collected, and a fleet equipped for their convoy. He therefore exhorted them to be speedy and secret in their preparations, that they might be in readiness to take arins and co-operate in effecting his restoration*, King James himself at the same time published a declaration, which was assiduously circulated by Parker and his other emissaries in England, importing, "that the king of France had enabled him to make another effort to retrieve his crown, and soliciting all persons to join his standardmaking grievous complaints of the treatment which he had met with from his infatuated subjects. Seeing himself deserted by his army, and betrayed by his ministers, he had for his personal safety taken refuge in France; and his retreat from the malice and cruel designs of the usurper had been construed into an abdication, and the whole constitution of the monarchy destroyed by a set of men illegally assembled. He promised pardon, and even rewards, to all those who * Vide depositions of Blair,, Goodman, &c. taken before the secretary of state. 1692. BOOK I. should return to their duty; and engaged to procure in his first parliament an act of indemnity, with the exception nevertheless of a long catalogue of names*, enumerated in the declaration, concluding with vague and general promises of protection to the church as by law established; and pompous protestations of paternal care and watchful attention to the welfare and happiness of all his subjects." The agents of the late king were indefatigable in enlisting men for his service; and were particularly successful in the counties of York, Lancaster, and Durham, where the chief strength of the papists lay. By this time James had repaired in person to La Hogue, and was ready to embark with his army, consisting of a body of French troops, together with a considerable number of English and Scottish refugees, and the regiments transported from Ireland by virtue of the capitulation of Limerick. The government of England was well informed of these proceedings, in part by some agents of James, who betrayed his cause, and partly by admiral Carter, who, having been tampered with by the Jacobite emissaries, was instructed to * Amongst these were the duke of Ormond, the lords Sunderland, Danby, Nottingham, Churchill, Delamere, Cornbury, &c. &c.; the bishops of London and St. Asaph, Drs. Tillotson and Burnet; and Edwards, Stapleton, and Hunt, fishermen at Feversham. The amuse them with a negotiation. The queen issued a proclamation commanding all papists to depart from London and Westminster. Warrants were expedited for apprehending divers disaffected persons. The earls of Huntingdon, Marlborough, Dunmore, and Middleton, &c. were committed to the Tower: and various other suspected persons imprisoned in Newgate, amongst whom was the notorious Ferguson, said to have been engaged in every plot against the government for the last thirty years. The bishop of Rochester was confined to his own house, and the lords Brudenel and Fanshaw secured. train-bands of London and Westminster were armed by the queen's direction, and she reviewed them in person. And the grand channel fleet, under admiral Russel, was ordered to put to sea with all expedition. In consequence of a very prevailing report, not to say belief, of the disaffection of the officers, the queen ordered lord Nottingham to write to the admiral, that she would change none of them; and that she imputed the reports that had been raised to the contrivances of her enemies and theirs. This step, equally politic and generous, produced a very warm and loyal address from the naval commanders and captains, in which they vowed they were ready to die in her cause and that of their country. Far from prohibiting James's declaration, she BOOK II. 1692. BOOK II. ordered it to be published with an answer drawn by Lloyd bishop of St. Asaph-thus manifesting 1692. that she submitted her title to the reason of her subjects, instead of betraying a fear that it could not stand the test of examination. La Hogue. On the 5th of May (1692) the admiral sailed from the Nore; and, being anxious to join the squadrons of Carter and Delaval, then cruising on the coast of France, after being himself joined by the Dutch, he plied through the sands with a scanty wind from the Nore to the Downs, and with much difficulty and excellent seamanship effected the desired junction off Beachy-head; thus disappointing the hopes of Tourville, the French admiral, who had formed a plan to intercept them. Victory off On the 19th of May they descried the enemy's fleet to windward, bearing down upon them with full sail-Cape Barfleur being then about seven leagues to the S. W. The English and Dutch fleets conjoined consisted of no less than ninetynine ships of the line, being, next to the Spanish armada, the greatest armament ever seen in the English channel. The count de Tourville, though far inferior in force, had positive orders from his court to fight, under the persuasion that the Dutch had not yet left their harbours: and when he discovered his mistake, it was too late to retreat. The count himself, in the Soleil Royal of 110 guns, bore down upon the English admiral |