be derived from the laws of God and man. The other party not only supported the natural rights of mankind, and explained the use that might be made of the doctrine of nonresistance, in exciting fresh commotions, but they also argued, that if passive obedience was right in any instance, it was conclusively so with regard to the present government; for the obedience required by scripture was indiscriminate," the powers that be, are ordained of Godlet every soul be subject to the higher powers." From these texts they inferred, that the new oaths ought to be taken without scruple; and that those who refused them, concealed party under the cloak of conscience. On the other hand, the fallacy and treachery of this argument were demonstrated. They said, it levelled all distinctions of justice and duty; that those who taught such doctrines, attached themselves solely to possession, however unjustly acquired; that, if twenty different usurpers should succeed one another, they would recognise the last, notwithstanding the allegiance they had so solemnly sworn to his predecessor like the fawning spaniel that followed the thief who mounted his master's horse, after having murdered the right owner. They also denied the justice of a lay deprivation, and with respect to church government started the same distinctions "De jure and De facto," which they had formerly made in the civil administration. They had even recourse to all the bitterness of invective against Tillotson and the new bishops, whom they reviled as intruders and usurpers: their acrimony was chiefly directed against Dr. Sherlock, who had been one of the most violent sticklers against the revolution, but thought proper to take the oaths upon the retreat of king James from Ireland. They branded him as an apostate, who had betrayed his cause, and published a review of his whole conduct, which proved a severe satire upon his character. Their attacks upon individuals were mingled with their vengeance against the government; and indeed the great aim of their divines, as well as of their politicians, was to sap the foundation of the new settlement. In order to alienate the minds of the people from the interest of the reigning prince, theý ridiculed his character: inveighed against his measures: they accused him of sacrificing the concerns of England to the

advantage of his native country; and drew invidious comparisons between the wealth, the trade, the taxes, of the last and of the present reign. To frustrate these efforts of the malcontents, the court employed their engines to answer and recriminate; all sorts of informers were encouraged and caressed in a proclamation issued against papists and other disaffected persons, all magistrates were enjoined to make search, and apprehend those who should, by seditious discourses and libels, presume to defame the government. Thus the revolutioners commenced the professed enemies of those very arts and practices which had enabled them to bring their scheme to perfection.

§ III. The presbyterians in Scotland acted with such folly, violence, and tyranny, as rendered them equally odious and contemptible. The transactions of their general assembly were carried on with such peevishness, partiality, and injustice, that the king dissolved it by an act of state, and convoked another from the month of November in the

following year. The episcopal party promised to enter heartily into the interests of the new government, to keep the Highlanders quiet, and induce the clergy to acknowledge and serve king William, provided he would balance the power of Melvill and his partizans, in such a manner, as would secure them from violence and oppression; provided the episcopal ministers should be permitted to perform their functions among those people by whom they were beloved, and that such of them as were willing to mix with the presbyterians in their judicatories, should be admitted without any severe imposition in point of opinion. The king, who was extremely disgusted at the presbyterians, relished the proposal; and young Dalrymple, son of lord Stair, was appointed joint secretary of state with Melvill. He undertook to bring over the majority of the jacobites, and a great number of them took the oaths: but at the same time they maintained a correspondence with the court of St. Germains, by the connivance of which they submit ted to William, that they might be in a condition to serve James the more effectually. The Scottish parliament was adjourned by proclamation to the sixteenth day of Septem ber. Precautions were taken to prevent any dangerous communication with the continent: a committee was ap

pointed to put the kingdom in a posture of defence; to exercise the powers of the regency, in securing the enemies of the government; and the earl of Home, with sir Peter Fraser and sir Æneas Macpherson, were apprehended and imprisoned.

§ IV. The king, having settled the operations of the ensuing campaign in Ireland, where general Ginckel exercised the supreme command, manned his fleet by dint of pressing sailors, to the incredible annoyance of commerce: then, leaving the queen as before at the helm of government in England, he returned to Holland, accompanied by lord Sydney, secretary of state, the earls of Marlborough and Portland, and began to make preparations for taking the field in person. On the thirtieth day of May, the duke of Luxembourg having passed the Scheldt at the head of a large army, took possession of Halle, and gave it up to plunder, in sight of the confederates, who were obliged to throw up intrenchments for their preservation. At the same time the marquis de Boufflers, with a considerable body of forces, intrenched himself before Liege, with a view to bombard that city. In the beginning of June, king William took upon himself the command of the allied army, by this time reinforced in such a manner as to be superior to the enemy. He forthwith detached the count de Tilly, with ten thousand men, to the relief of Liege, which was already reduced to ruins and desolation by the bombs, bullets, and repeated attacks of Boufflers, who now thought proper to retreat to 'Dinant. Tilly, having thus raised the siege, and thrown a body of troops into Huy, rejoined the confederate army, which had been augmented ever since his departure with six thousand men from Brandenburgh, and ten thousand Hessians, commanded by the landgrave in person. Such was the vigilance of Luxembourg, that William could not avail himself of his superiority. In vain he exhausted his invention in marches, countermarches, and stratagems, to bring on a general engagement: the French marshal avoided it with so much dexterity, as baffled all his endeavours. In the course of this campaign, the two armies twice confronted each other: but they were situated in such a manner that neither could begin the attack without a manifest disadvantage. While the king lay encamped at

Court-sur-heure, a soldier, corrupted by the enemy, set fire to the fusees of several bombs, the explosion of which might have blown up the whole magazine, and produced infinite confusion in the army, had not the mischief been prevented by the courage of the men who guarded the artillery; even while the fusees were burning they disengaged the wagons from the line, and overturned them down the side of a hill; so that the communication of the fire was intercepted. The person who made this treacherous attempt being discovered, owned he had been employed for this purpose by the duke of Luxembourg. He was tried by a court martial, and suffered the death of a traitor. Such perfidious practices not only fix an indelible share of infamy on the French general, but prove how much the capacity of William was dreaded by his enemies. King William, quitting Court-sur-heure, encamped upon the plain of St. Girard, where he remained till the fourth day of September, consuming the forage, and exhausting the country. Then he passed the Sambre near Jemeppe, while the French crossed it at La Busiere, and both armies marched towards Enghien. The enemy, perceiving the confederates were at their heels, proceeded to Gramont, passed the Dender, and took possession of a strong camp between Aeth and Oudenarde: William followed the same route, and encamped between Aeth and Leuse. While he continued in his post, the Hessian forces and those of Liege, amounting to about eighteen thousand men, separated from the army, and passed the Meuse at Namur: then the king returned to the Hague, leaving the command to prince Waldeck, who forthwith removed to Leuse, and on the twentieth day of the month began his march to Cambron. Luxembourg, who watched his motion with a curious eye, found means to attack him in his retreat so suddenly, that his rear was surprised and defeated, though the French were at last obliged to retire; the prince continued his route to Cambron, and in a little time both armies retired into winter quarters. In the mean time, the duke de Noailles besieged and took Urgel in Catalonia, while a French squadron, commanded by the count D'Etrées, bombarded Barcelona and Alicant.

V. The confederates had proposed to act vigorously in Italy against the French; but the season was far advanced

The em

before they were in a condition to take the field. peror and Spain had undertaken to furnish troops to join the duke of Savoy; and the maritime powers contributed. their proportion in money. The elector of Bavaria was nominated to the supreme command of the imperial forces in that country; the marquis de Leganez, governor of the Milanese, acted as trustee for the Spanish monarch: duke Schomberg, son of that great general who lost his life at the Boyne, lately created duke of Leinster, managed the interest of William, as king of England and stadtholder, and commanded a body of the Vaudois paid by Great Britain. Before the German auxiliaries arrived, the French had made great progress in their conquests. Catinat besieged and took Villa-Franca, Nice, and some other fortifications; then he reduced Villana and Carmagnola, and detached the marquis de Feuquieres to invest Coni, a strong fortress garrisoned by the Vaudois and French refugees. The duke of Savoy was now reduced to the brink of ruin. He saw almost all his places of strength in the possession of the enemy; Coni was besieged; and La Hoguette, another French general, had forced the passes of the valley of Aoste, so that he had free admission into the Verceillois, and the frontiers of the Milanese. Turin was threatened with a bombardment; the people were dispirited and clamorous, and their sovereign lay with his little army encamped on the hill of Montcallier, from whence he beheld his towns taken, and his palace of Rivoli destroyed. Duke Schomberg exhorted him to act on the offensive, and give battle to Catinat, while that offcer's army was weakened by detachments, and prince Eugened supported his remonstrance: but this proposal was vehemently opposed by the marquis de Leganez, who foresaw that, if the duke should be defeated, the French would penetrate into the territories of Milan. The relief of Coni,

d Prince Eugene of Savoy, who in the sequel rivalled the fame of the greatest. warriors of antiquity, was descended on the father's side from the house of Savoy, and on the mother's from the family of Soissons, a branch of the house of Bourbon. His father was Eugene Maurice, of Savoy, count of Soissons, colonel of the Switzers, and governor of Champagne and Brie: his mother was the celebrated Olympia de Mancini, niece of cardinal Mazarine. Prince Eugene, finding himself neglected at the court of France, engaged as a soldier of fortune in the service of the emperor, and soon distinguished himself by his great military talents: he was, moreover, an accomplished gentleman, learned, liberal, mild, and courteous; an unshaken friend; a generous enemy; an invincible captain; a consummate politician.