royal power should be in the prince. This arrangement was acceded to, and so the great Revolution of 1688 was accomplished in England.

SCOTLAND. In Scotland the arrival of the Prince of Orange was a matter of almost greater importance to the majority of the people than in England; but as the principal parties to the Revolution were in the latter country, the events which took place there had a less striking appearance. William_called together several of the Scottish nobles and gentry, and some of their clergy, in London. Having suffered much for being presbyterians, they were inclined to use harsh measures to their enemies, and were rather disappointed by the moderate tone of the prince. They proposed, however, that a convention of the estates should be held in Scotland to consider the state of the nation. This body adopted a stronger and more distinct resolution than the convention in England, for they declared that James had forfeited the crown, and they settled it on the Prince and Princess of Orange.

EXERCISES.

1. What event may be called the turning point of the Revolution? How did the people view the imprisonment of the bishops? What was the result of their trial? How did the birth of a child influence the Revolution? What was the state of the army?

2. What connexion had the Prince of Orange with the royal family of Britain? Who urged him to a descent on England? How did he act? What was his character ? On what day was an invitation sent to him? When and where did he land?

3. What had alienated the Irish from England? How would a government desirous to do justice to them have acted? How did James wish to take advantage of their feelings? Who helped him to form an Irish army? Describe the feeling with which the English contemplated it.

4. What celebrated ballad was produced at this time? What effect had it on the people? What was the conduct of the Prince of Orange? What were the terms of his proclamation? Mention some conspicuous persons who deserted King James to join him. What was the conduct of the Prince of Denmark?

5. How did James act when he thought his person in danger? What piece of mischief did he play? Describe the state of London next morning. What disposition did the people show? Describe what happened to Jeffreys. What happened to James before he finally embarked ? 6. When did William arrive at Whitehall? What steps were then taken? What was the prince requested to do? What was the Conven tion? What was the "Declaration of Rights"? What arrangement was made as to the exercise of the royal power? Describe how the Revolution proceeded in Scotland. Why was the resolution adopted there stronger than that of the English convention?

CHAPTER XXIX.

HOUSE OF ORANGE.

FROM THE REVOLUTION TO THE DEATH OF WILLIAM III., A. D. 1689-1702.

William and Mary-Resistance in Scotland-Battles of Killiecrankie and Boyne Water-Massacre of Glencoe-War with France-Treaty of Ryswick-Jealousy of the Commons-Act of Succession-The Darien Expedition.

1. THUS were William and Mary seated on the throne of the United Kingdom; both enjoying the dignity of royalty, but he exercising the royal authority. In this whole arrangement, it will be observed with what wonderful ingenuity the parliament had managed to elect a person to be their ruler on account of his ability to govern the country, while at the same time they diverged but very slightly out of the ordinary line of hereditary succession. It was a matter to be regretted that William had no offspring, as the crown would then have quietly descended to his children. As it happened, the queen's sister Anne, on whom the succession was to fall, also died childless, so that the statesmen of the time had the difficult and delicate duty of three times selecting successors to the throne beyond the hereditary line. The queen died on the 28th of December 1694, and from that time to his death William was the sole monarch of the three kingdoms.

England offered no substantial resistance to the Revolution settlement; but James received formidable support in Scotland, where that portion of the people which adhered to the episcopal church was alienated by the restoration of the presbyterian system. Edinburgh castle was held out by the Duke of Gordon, and when the heralds in their official dress summoned him to surrender, he told them in scorn, that as they appeared with King James's coat on, they should have had the decency to turn it before delivering such a message. John Graham of Claverhouse, celebrated for the aid he gave in persecuting the covenanters, now raised to the rank of Viscount Dundee, assembled an army of Highlanders, and defeated the 27th July troops of the government at Killiecrankie; but he was mortally wounded as he was giving the last

1689.

orders to complete his victory, and the insurrection died with him.

The efforts of James in Ireland, where he headed his partisans in person, were not more fortunate; and, in despite of the valour of the Irish and the support of Louis XIV., he was utterly defeated in the disastrous battle of the Boyne, and was once more compelled to leave his kingdom, which he never saw again. The victory at Aughrim, and the capitulation of Limerick, completed the reduction of Ireland, and William, now become master of the three kingdoms, was able to direct all his forces against France.

1st July 1690.

12th July

1691.

2. MASSACRE OF GLENCOE.-The submission of Scotland was not so complete as that of Ireland: as the Highlanders had not all submitted, it was resolved to gain over the chiefs by pecuniary bribes, and for this purpose £16,000 were sent to the Earl of Breadalbane, who had guaranteed the success of the measure. But the earl had another object besides the submission of the clans, one of whose lords, Macdonald of Glencoe, had, during the course of hostilities, plundered his lands, and he desired to be indemnified for his losses out of the sum set apart for that chieftain. Macdonald, however, would not consent, and at his instigation other Highland clans rejected the offers of Breadalbane, who swore to be avenged. A proclamation was issued in August 1691, calling on all the Highland chiefs to take the oath of allegiance before the 1st of January 1692. Nearly every chief at once came forward to take the oath, much to the mortification of Breadalbane and his friends, who knew that they still retained their attachment for King James. But Macdonald seemed disposed to defy the government, though in the end he deemed it wiser to submit; and just before the first of January he appeared at Fort-William to take the oath. The governor, however, was not authorized to receive it, and he was compelled to go to the sheriff of Argyle. Having to cross a wild district covered with snow, the first of January had come before he could comply with the law. Still he was told that no advantage would be taken of the omission, and he felt secure. His enemies, however, procured an order for the destruction of him and his people; and it will ever be a stain on the memory of William, that, either through negligence or cruelty, he should have consented to it. It was to be executed by Captain Campbell of Glenlyon. To add perfidy to cruelty, Campbell entered the valley

of Glencoe as a guest, and was hospitably entertained there, when he surprised the Macdonalds during the night, murdered the greater number of the men, and setting fire to the houses, retired laden with plunder, leaving the women and children without clothing, food, or shelter, to perish from cold and starvation (February 1692).

3. Louis XIV. made another attempt to restore James to his throne. He collected 20,000 troops for the invasion of England; but the destruction of the French fleet at the battle of La Hogue compelled him to abandon the enterprise (1692). The course of the war on the continent was less favourable to the arms of England: William's troops were always inferior in number, but were never shamefully routed; and in these campaigns Marlborough began to display his splendid military talents. The treaty of Ryswick, signed on the 21st of September 1697, put an end to hostilities, England and France mutually agreeing to restore their conquests.

While William was raising the credit and dignity of the English nation abroad, he enjoyed at home a precarious power, and was continually thwarted by the jealousy of parliament. At first his civil list was only granted for a short period. When fixing the sum destined for the support of the royal household, the Commons had resolved, that it was their duty to watch over the public expenditure,-a privilege they have maintained ever since. To obtain supplies in 1694, the king was obliged to consent to a bill making the duration of parliaments triennial,—a measure which tended to diminish the influence of the crown over that body. In 1696, when a conspiracy was discovered against William's life, the two houses showed the greatest zeal for his person; but in 1697, after the treaty of Ryswick, they left him only 8000 men of the army which he desired to render permanent. In 1699, this number was decreased to 7000; and he was further required to dismiss his Dutch guards. As the Duke of Gloucester, the only surviving child of the Princess Anne, the heiress to A. D. the crown, died in 1700, the parliament, to fix the succession in the protestant line, declared the Princess Sophia, dowager-duchess of Hanover, the nearest heir to the throne next to the respective descendants of the king and of the Princess Anne, daughter of James II. This bill, regulating the succession to the crown, contained various regulations restricting the royal prerogative, which William vainly endeavoured to get rejected. The bitter invectives which the

1701.

Commons permitted against his partition treaties with Louis XIV., relative to the Spanish monarchy, and the charges brought against his ministers, imbittered the latter period of

his life.

4. THE DARIEN EXPEDITION.-Some events took place in Scotland which threatened to create war between the two countries though they were under one monarch. The Scots, seeing that the English had enriched themselves with foreign trade, wished to follow their example, and to possess colonies like their neighbours. An ingenious man named Patterson, who was the founder of the Bank of England, suggested that they should form a large partnership, to be called "The Company trading to Africa and the Indies," which was in some measure to resemble the East India Company. The company was embodied by an act of the Scottish parliament, and many English people took shares in it; but the English merchants, and especially the East India Company, believing that it would hurt their interests, stirred up the Houses of Lords and Commons of England against it, and prevailed on the king to discountenance it. This only made the Scots pursue it more eagerly, and they subscribed to it four hundred thousand pounds,—a sum in those days thought inconceivably great for so poor a country.

A.D. 1696.

3d Nov.

Thus provided with money, the company proposed to create a colony, and they fixed on the narrow neck of land between the great continents of North and South America, as a fit place for its establishment, believing that they would there secure a connexion with the trade conducted with both sides of the New World. To this place the company despatched a colony, which settled itself on a peninsula stretching out from the isthmus of Darien, and which they named after their 1698. own country "Caledonia." Their first landing had every appearance of prosperity, but they mismanaged their business, and quarrelled among themselves. Their friends in Scotland, not knowing how much a new colony requires assistance from home, neglected them. The Spanish government maintained that the territory of Darien belonged to themselves, and they threatened to exterminate the settlers. The English colonies were nearly as hostile, for they would neither give nor sell provisions to the Scots at Darien, and when some of these, driven to despair, sailed for Jamaica, they were received as enemies. The company sent out other vessels and more colonists, but they fared no better; and in the end,