JAMES THE SECOND; OR, THE REVOLUTION OF 1688. An Historical Romance. EDITED BY W. HARRISON AINSWORTH, ESQ. LONDON: G. ROUTLEDGE & CO. FARRINGDON STREET; NEW YORK: 18, BEEKMAN STREET. 1854. 249.3.199. JAMES THE SECOND; OR, THE REVOLUTION OF 1688. INTRODUCTION. THE ERRORS OF A REIGN. THE Revolution of 1688 had its origin in the previous century. It was in the conflict of creeds which then arose, under the capricious auspices of Henry VIII. that its first seeds were sown. Essentially a religious revolution, its spirit was kindled at the martyr-fires of Mary; burnt brightly and steadily under the fostering government of her successor, and forty years later under the wayward rule of Charles I., was roused into fanaticism by the innovations of Laud-thus paving the way for the Great Rebellion. Wearied by the struggles of the Civil War, overawed by the despotism of Cromwell, and subdued by the reaction of the Restoration, it yet retained, in secret, something of its original vigour, requiring only to be aroused to become formidable. The nation saw a bugbear in the very name of Rome. It had learned to submit with patience to the abuses of power, to behold with indifference the extinction of its liberties; but its hatred of Rome, though associated with scarcely a shadow of religious freedom, remained unshaken. Aware of this fact, Charles II. concealed his predilections for Popery, and it was reserved for his successor to arouse, by an open alliance with the Pope, the slumbering hostility of his subjects. James II. ascended the throne, on the 6th of February, 1685, amidst the acclamations of the people. While he called forth those manifestations of attachment which are usually awarded to a new monarch, he possessed the advantage of succeeding a prince, whose profligacy and venality had rendered him odious; and, though opinion was divided respecting his own character, it was anticipated that his habits of business would work a favourable change in public affairs. It is true, the fact of his being an B + avowed Catholic excited a feeling of distrust in the public mind; but it was hoped that, as he was not wanting in prudence, he would refrain from molesting the Protestant establishment, if it were only to conciliate prejudice, and allay apprehension. On the other hand, the Nonconformists looked to him from emancipation from the arbitrary laws of his predecessor; and the Catholics, long deprived of all rights of citizenship, and subjected to the most cruel oppression, hailed with delight the accession of a sovereign, whose profession of their faith secured them his sympathy, and might ultimately achieve for them more decided advantages. The jarring interests of the several powers of the continent rendered James an object of universal attention abroad. The ambitious projects and vast. power of Louis XIV., who then governed France, had spread a feeling of terror through all the civilised nations of Europe. Supported by an inexhaustible revenue, immense armies, and a navy greater than that of all Europe combined, surrounded by able and renowned commanders, his ambition seemed to aim at universal dominion, and some new conquest was continually extending his rule and his resources. Spain, weakened by long and repeated wars, was incapable of defending her unwieldy empire, and indeed, was so miserably impoverished, that she was unable to pay even the salaries of her diplomatic residents at the various foreign courts. The house of Austria was almost helpless, having, by a long course of tyrannical policy, driven Hungary to revolt, and thus removed a formidable barrier against the power of Turkey, whose victorious armies had twice made their way to the very walls of Vienna. Venice, formerly so potent, was sinking into insignificance, and, in this last stage of her career, displayed scarcely a vestige of expiring greatness. The German States wavered between their hatred of the house of Austria and their jealousy of the designs of France; and, in all Europe, only the unconquerable spirit of William of Nassau, Prince of Orange, the Stadtholder of Holland, opposed an effectual resistance to the French armies. Left to fight the cause of Europe unaided, the successes of this able prince speedily secured him the co-operation of Spain -of several of the states of Germany, and finally, of the Pope, Odeschalki, a sagacious and spirited pontiff, who had ascended the papal throne under the title of Innocent XI. Yet overmatched by the prodigious resources of France, this holy alliance looked for succour to James, whose connection with the Prince of Orange-first, as the brother of the prince's mother, and secondly, as the father of his wife, must naturally incline him to espouse his interests. Louis was equally anxious to obtain the support of James, or, at all events, to prevent him from taking part with his enemies, and with this view, sought to divert his attention from affairs abroad, by stimulating him to extend his prerogative at home. James was but too well disposed to listen to his counsel; and thus, when he might have become the arbiter of Europe, contented himself with assailing his own subjects, while his court became a focus of intrigue for all the conflicting interests of the continent. The internal condition of England was, in many respects, not adverse to the design entertained by James, in this position of affairs, of extending the royal prerogative, assuming the power of a despotic monarch. The people were almost universally sunk in the grossest ignorance; the age was one of slow communication; the roads, if they might be called such, hardly passable from their natural obstructions, were also infested by robbers, rendering travelling as dangerous as it was difficult; there were no manufactures, no middle class of landed proprietors, and but little political organisation; and, to render the task of subjugation still more easy, a rigorous censorship had almost silenced the press. The lieutenants and deputy-lieutenants of counties, remote from the seat of government, exercised, in their respective districts, an almost feudal sway; the justices, composed of the inferior gentry, and aping the conduct of their superiors, became so many petty tyrants, daily committing the most flagrant excesses; the police was inefficient, and often secretly in league with the offenders against justice; and the judges themselves had, by their notorious and barefaced corruption, lost the respect of the people. The ministry embraced the ablest men of the age-Halifax, Rochester, Sunderland, and Jeffreys, supported by a standing army of twenty thousand men, flushed with recent victory, and believed to be devoted to the king, and by a large and wellmanned fleet; and the suppression of the revolt of Argyle, and the overthrow of Monmouth, with the severities which followed the latter event, and which were familiarly stigmatised as 'the Bloody Assizes," had combined to give it a degree of power and stability, such as had rarely been possessed by any preceding administration. 66 Nor did the parliament itself offer a great obstacle to the establishment of a despotic government. Owing to the large number of charters which had been cancelled, or suspended in the course of the previous reign, a great many of the corporate towns had been disfranchised; and those which retained their charters were so much under the influence of the court, or of its adherents, that they returned servile and inefficient members- |