be prepared with all convenient expedition, and with such exceptions only as should seem necessary for the vindication of public justice, the safety of him and his consort, and the settlement and welfare of the nation. An address of thanks to his majesty was unanimously voted. Nevertheless, his design was frustrated by the backwardness of the whigs, who proceeded so slowly in the bill, that it could not be brought to maturity before the end of the session. They wanted to keep the scourge over the heads of their enemies, until they should find a proper opportunity for revenge; and, in the mean time, restrain them from opposition, by the terror of impending vengeance. They affected to insinuate that the king's design was to raise the prerogative as high as it had been in the preceding reigns; and that he for this purpose pressed an act of indemnity, by virtue of which he might legally use the instruments of the late tyranny. The earls of Monmouth and Warrington industriously infused these jealousies into the minds of their par ty: on the other hand, the earl of Nottingham inflamed William's distrust of his old friends; both sides succeeded in kindling an animosity, which had like to have produced confusion, notwithstanding the endeavours used by the earl of Shrewsbury and Devonshire to allay those heats, and remove the suspicions that mutually prevailed. XIV. It was now judged expedient to pass an act for settling the succession of the crown, according to the former resolution of the convention. A bill for this purpose was brought into the lower house, with a clause disabling papists from succeeding to the throne to this the lords added, "Or such as should marry papists," absolving the subject in that case from allegiance. The bishop of Salisbury, by the king's direction, proposed that the princess Sophia, dutchess of Hanover, and her posterity, should be nominated in the act of succession, as the next protestant heirs, failing issue of the king, an Anne princess of Denmark. These amendments gave rise to warm debates in the lower, house, where they were vigorously opposed, not only by those who wished well in secret to the late king and the lineal succession; but likewise by the republican party, who hoped to see monarchy altogether extinguished in England, by the death of the three persons al The lords insisted ready named in the bill of succession. upon their amendments, and several fruitless conferences were held between the two houses. At length the bill was dropped for the present, in consequence of an event which in a great measure dissipated the fears of a popish successor.. This was the delivery of the princess Anne, who, on the twenty-seventh day of July, brought forth a son, christened by the name of William, and afterwards created duke of Gloucester. XV. In the midst of these domestic disputes, William did not neglect the affairs of the continent. He retained all his former influence in Holland, as his countrymen had reason to confide in his repeated assurances of inviolable affection. The great scheme which he had projected of a confederacy against France began at this period to take effect. The princes of the empire, assembled in the diet, solemnly exhorted the emperor to declare war against the French king, who had committed numberless infractions of the treaties of Munster, Osnabruck, Nimeguen, and the truce; invaded their country without provocation, and evinced himself an inveterate enemy of the holy Roman empire. They, therefore, besought his imperial majesty to conclude a treaty of peace with the Turks, who had offered advantageous terms, and proceed to an open rupture with Lewis : in which case, they would consider it a war of the empire, and support their head in the most effectual manner. The states general published a declaration against the common enemy, taxing him with manifold infractions of the treaty of commerce; with having involved the subjects of the republic in the persecution which he had raised against the protestants; with having cajoled and insulted them with deceitful promises and insolent threats; with having plundered and oppressed the Dutch merchants and traders in France; and, finally, with having declared war against the States, without any plausible reason assigned. The elector of Brandenburgh denounced war against France, as a power whose perfidy, cruelty, and ambition, it was the duty of every prince to oppose. The marquis de Castanaga, governor of the Spanish Netherlands, issued a counter declaration to that of Lewis, who had declared against his master. He accused the French king of having laid waste the empire, without any regard to the obligations of religion and hu- In § XVI. William, who was the soul of this confederacy, found no difficulty in persuading the English to undertake a war against their old enemies and rivals. On the sixteenth day of April, Mr. Hambden made a motion for taking into consideration the state of the kingdom with respect to France, and foreign alliances; and the commons unanimously resolved, that, in case his majesty should think fit to engage in war with France, they would, in a parliamentary way, enable him to carry it on with vigour. An address was immediately drawn up, and presented to the king, desiring he would seriously consider the destructive methods taken of late years by the French king against the trade, quiet, and interest of the nation, particularly his present invasion of Ireland, and supporting the rebels in that kingdom. They did not doubt but the alliances already made, and those that might hereafter be concluded by his majesty, would be sufficient to reduce the French king to such a condition, that it should not be in his power to violate the peace of Christendom; nor prejudice the trade and prosperity of England; in the mean time they assured his majesty he might depend upon the assistance of his parliament, according to the vote which had passed in the house of commons. This was a welcome address to king William. He assured them that no part of the supplies which they might grant for the prosecution of the war should be misapplied; and, on the seventh day of May, he declared war against the French monarch. On this occasion, Lewis was charged with having ambitiously invaded the territories of the emperor, and denounced war against the allies of England, in violation of the treaties confirmed under the guarantee of the English crown; with having encroached upon the fishery of Newfoundland, invaded the Caribbee islands, taken forcible possession of New York and Hudson's Bay, made depredations on the English at sea, prohibited the importation of English manufactures, disputed the right of the flag, persecuted many English subjects on account of religion, contrary to express treaties and the law of nations, and sent an armament to Ireland, in support of the rebels of that kingdom. The § XVII. Having thus described the progress of the revolution in England, we shall now briefly explain the measures that were prosecuted in Scotland, towards the establishment of William on the throne of that kingdom. The meeting of the Scottish convention was fixed for the fourteenth day of March; and both parties employed all their interest to influence the election of members. duke of Hamilton, and all the presbyterians, declared for William. The duke of Gordon maintained the castle of Edinburgh for his old master: but, as he had neglected to lay in a store of provisions, he depended entirely upon the citizens for subsistence. The partisans of James were headed by the earl of Balcarras, and Graham viscount Dundee, who employed their endeavours to preserve union among the individuals of their party; to confirm the duke of Gordon, who began to waver in his attachment to their sovereign; and to manage their intrigues in such a manner as to derive some advantage to their cause from the transactions of the ensuing session. When the lords and commons assembled at Edinburgh, the bishop of that diocese, who officiated as chaplain to the convention, prayed for the restoration of king James. The first dispute turned upon the choice of a president. The friends of the late king set up the marquis of Athol in opposition to the duke of Hamilton; but this last was elected by a considerable majority; and a good number of the other party, finding their cause the weakest, deserted it from that moment. The earls of Lothian and Tweedale were sent as deputies, to require the duke of Gordon, in the name of the estates, to quit the castle in four-and-twenty hours, and leave the charge of it to the protestant officer next in command. The duke, though in himself irresolute, was animated by Dundee to demand such conditions, as the convention would not grant. The negotiation proving ineffectual, the states ordered the heralds, in all their formalities, to summon him to surrender the castle immediately, on pain of incurring the penalties of high treason; and he refusing to obey their mandate, was proclaimed a traitor. All persons were forbid, under the same penalties, to aid, succour, or correspond with him; and the castle was blocked up with the troops of the city. § XVIII. Next day an express arrived from Londo, with a letter from king William to the estates; and, at the same time, another from James was presented by one Crane, an English domestic of the abdicated queen. William observed, that he had called, a meeting of their estates at the desire of the nobility and gentry of Scotland assembled at London, who requested that he would take upon himself the administration of their affairs. He exhorted them to concert measures for settling the peace of the kingdom upon a solid foundation; and to lay aside animosities and factions, which served only to impede that salutary settlement. He professed himself sensible of the good effects that would arise from an union of the two kingdoms; and assured them he would use his best endeavours to promote such a coalition. A committee being appointed to draw up a respectful answer to these assurances, a debate ensued about the letter from the late king James. This they resolved to favour with a reading, after the members should have subscribed an act, declaring, that notwithstanding any thing that might be contained in the letter for dis |