ed by five thoufand Swedes, who, because they were of the proteftant religion, it was thought would remove a part of the odium which attended an invasion by foreigners; that affistance should at the fame time be fent from France, and that full liberty of confcience fhould be proclaimed throughout the kingdom. In order to lofe no time, it was refolved to fend over two trufty perfons to France to confult with the banished monarch; and lord Prefton and Mr. Afhton were the perfons appointed for this dangerous embaffy. Accordingly Afhton hired a small veffel for this purpose; and the two confpirators went fecretly on board, happy in the fuppofed fecrecy of their schemes; but there had been previous information given of their intentions; and lord Carmarthen had them both feized, juft at the time they thought themselves out of all danger. The confpirators refused to inform; their trials were therefore hurried on about a fortnight after they were taken, in order, by the terrors of death, to force a difcovery. They were both condemned; Afhton was executed, without making any confeffion; lord Prefton had not the fame refolution. Upon an offer of a pardon' he difcovered a great number of affociates, among whom the duke of Ormond, lord Dartmouth, and lord Clarendon were foremost.

The reduction of Ireland, and the wretched fuccefs of the late confpiracy, made the French at laft fenfible of their impolitic parfimony in lofing a kingdom, whofe divifions would no longer be of ufe to them. They were willing, therefore, to concur with the fugitive king, and refolved to make a defcent upon England in his favour. In purfuance of this fcheme, the French king funplied James with an army confifting of a body of ench troops, fome English and Scotch refugees, and the Irith regiments, which had been transported from

Limerick

Limerick into France, now become excellent foldiers by long difcipline and fevere duty. This army was affembled between Cherbourg and La Hogue, and was commanded by: king James in perfon. More than three hundred tranfports were provided for landing it on the oppofite English coaft; and Tourville, the French admiral, at the head of fixty-three ships of the line, was appointed to favour the descent. His orders were, at all events, to attack the enemy, in cafe they fhould oppofe him; so that every thing promised the banished king a change of fortune.

A. D.

These preparations on the fide of France were foon known at the English court, and every precaution taken for a vigorous oppofition. All the fecret machinations of the banished king's adherents were difcovered to 1692. the English miniftry by fpies; and by thefe they found, with fome mortification, that the Tories were more faithful than even the Whigs, who had placed king William on the throne. The duke of Marlborough, lord Godolphin, and even the princess Anne herself, were violently fufpected of difaffection; the fleet, the army, and the church, were feen mistaking their defire of novelty for a return of duty to their banished fovereign. However, preparations were made to refift the growing ftorm with great tranquillity and refolution. Admiral Ruffel was ordered to put to fea with all poffible expedition; and he foon appeared with ninety-nine fhips of the line, befides frigates and fire-fhips; an immenfe force, and what Europe had feldom feen till that time. At the head of this formidable fquadron he fet fail for the coast of France, and at laft, near La' Hogue, difcovered the enemy under admiral Tourville, who prepared to give him battle. Accordingly the engagement began between the two admirals with great fury; C 2

the

the rest of the fleet on each fide foon followed the example. This memorable engagement lafted for ten hours, and all James's hopes depended on the event. Victory at last declared on the fide of numbers; the French fled for Conquet Road, having loft four hips in the firft day's action. The purfuit continued for two days following; three French fhips of the line were destroyed the next day, and eighteen more burned by Sir George Rooke, which had taken refuge in the bay of La Hogue. In this manner all the preparations on the tide of France were fruftrated; and fo decifive was the blow, that from that time France feemed to relinquish all their claims to the ocean.

James was now reduced to the lowest ebb of delpondence, his defigns upon England were quite fruftrated, fo that nothing was left his friends, but the hopes of affaffinating the monarch on the throne. These base attempts, as barbarous as they were useless, were not entirely disagreeable to the temper of James. It is faid he encouraged and proposed them; but they all proved unferviceable to his caufe, and only ended in the deftruction of the undertakers. From that time till he died, which was about feven years, he continued to refide at St. Germains, a penfioner on the bounties of Lewis, and affifted by occafional liberalities from his daughter and friends in England. He died on the fixteenth day of September, in the year 1700, after having laboured under a tedious fickness, and many miracles, as the people thought, were wrought at his tomb. Indeed the latter part of his life, was calculated to infpire the fuperftitious with reverence for his piety. He fubjected himfelf to acts of uncommon penance and mortification. He frequently vifited the poor monks of La Trappe, who were edified by his humble and pious deportment. His pride and arbitrary temper, feemed

feemed to have vanished with his greatnefs; he became affable, kind and eafy, to all his dependents; and in his laft illness, conjured his fon to prefer religion to every worldly advantage, a counfel which that prince ftrictly obeyed. He died with great marks of devotion, and was interred, at his own requeft, in the church of the English Benedictines at Paris, without any funeral folemnity.

The defeat at La Hogue confirmed king William's fafety, and fecured his title to the crown. The Jacobites were ever feeble, but they were now a difunited faction; new parties arofe among those who had been friends to the revolution, and the want of a common enemy, produced diffenfions among themselves. William now began to find as much oppofition and uneafinefs from his parliament at home, as from the enemy in the field. His chief motive for accepting the crown, was to engage England more deeply in the concerns of Europe. It had ever been the object of his wifh, and the scope of his ambition to humble the French, whom he confidered as the most formidable enemies of that liberty which he idolized; and all his politics confifted in forming alliances against them. Many of the English, on the other hand, had neither the fame animofity against the French, nor the fame terrors of their encreasing power. Thefe, therefore, confidered the intereft of the nation as facrificed to foreign connections and complained that the war on the continent fell moft heavily on them, though they had the leaft intereft in its fuccefs. To these motives of difcontent were added the king's partiality to his own countrymen, in prejudice of his English fubjects, together with his proud referve and fullen filence, fo unlike the behaviour of all their former kings. William, however, little regarded thofe difcontents, which he knew must be consequent on all govern

government; accustomed to oppofition, he heard their complaints with the moft phlegmatic indifference, and employed all his attention only on the balance of power, and the interefts of Europe. Thus while he inceffantly waked over the fchemes of contending kings and nations, he was unmindful of the cultivation of internal polity; and as he formed alliances abroad, encreafed the influence of party at home. Patriotifm began to be ridiculed as an ideal virtue, the practice of bribing a majority in parliament became univerfal. The example of the great was caught up by the vulgar; principle, and even decency, was gradually banifhed; talents lay uncultivated, and the ignorant and profligate were received into favour.

Upon accepting of the crown, the king was refolved to preferve, as much as he was able, that fhare of prerogative which still was left him. He was as yet entirely unacquainted with the nature of a limited monarchy, which was not at that time thoroughly understood in any part of Europe, except England alone. He therefore, often controverted the views of his parliament, and fuffered himself to be directed by weak and arbitrary counfels. One of the first inftances of this, was in the oppofition he gave to a bill for limiting the duration of parliaments to the fpace of three years. This bill had pafled the two houfes, and was fent up to receive the royal affent as ufual; but the nation was furprised to find that the king was refolved to exert his prerogative on this occafion, and to refufe his affent to an act which was then confidered as beneficial to the nation. Both houfes took the alarm; the commons came to a refolution, that whoever advised the king to this measure was an enemy to his country, and the people were taught to echo their refentment. The bill thus rejected, lay dormant for another feafon; but being again. brought