(b) Presses the Bill for Protestant securities, that any Prince marrying a Roman Catholic be excluded from the throne. The Bill is rejected, but the King gives way to the popular feeling. Buckingham and Arlington dismissed. Osborne, Earl of Danby, a Cavalier Churchman, called to power. 1674. 2. Danby, a Churchman, hating Popery and Dissent, a Cavalier, but with a belief in Parliament and law, and a patriotic wish to shake off dependence on France. Pp. 632-638. a Divides the Opposition. P. 633. I By bribery. bribed. The first English Minister who 2 By reviving the spirit of religious persecution; proposes the extension of the Test Act to all functionaries. b Deceived by the King, who, in spite of his entreaties, signs a second secret treaty with France (February, 1676, receiving an annual pension from Lewis of 100,000l.), he determines to rescue the King from his bondage by reconciling the Parliament to him. P. 634. I Sends Shaftesbury to the Tower for contempt of the House. February, 1677. 2 Introduces the Bill for the security of the Church, that a Roman Catholic King have no Church patronage. 1677. c Danby's foreign policy marked by the same patriotic tendency. Pp. 634, 635. I The Prince of Orange invited to England, and married to Mary, eldest child of the Duke of York, presumptive heiress of the Crown. November, 1677. 2 Indignation of Lewis. Danby, though eager for war with France, consents to write, at the King's order, a demand to Lewis for a pension for three years as the price of peace. May, 1678. 3 Danby's policy defeated by his own delay. The Treaty of Nimwegen leaves France its conquests in Flanders and towards the Rhine, and the King of England with an army of twenty thousand men and a million of French money. 1678 and 1679. d The Popish Plot. Pp. 635, 636. I The panic first spread by Titus Oates, originally a 2 The belief in the existence of a plot strengthened (a) by the seizure of the papers of Coleman, secretary to the Duchess of York; Coleman executed, December, 1678. (b) by the efforts of Shaftesbury; (c) by the death of Sir Edmondsbury Godfrey, October 15, 1678. e The Fall of Danby. Pp. 636-638. 1 Shaftesbury trusts, by means of the plot, to separate the King from France, and to exclude James from the throne. 2 Shaftesbury carries a Bill for the exclusion of Catholics from either House. James exempted by a special clause, and Shaftesbury practically defeated. 3 Bedloe comes forward as a fresh informer of a plot to land a Papist army and massacre the Protestants. January, 1679. 4 Recall of the English Ambassador (Montagu) from Paris through a quarrel with Danby, and production by him of the letter written to Lewis ty Danby at the King's order. 5 Retirement of Danby to save impeachment. December, 1678. E Shaftesbury's Administration. Pp. 638-641. 1678, 1679. 1. Temple's plan for a new Council (really a restoration of the Royal Council to its older powers). Pp. 638, 639. a The Council to consist of thirty members. I Fifteen appointed by the Crown. 2 Fifteen appointed by Parliament. 3 Their joint income not to fall below 300,000l., nearly the collective income of the House of Commons. b Its inherent faults. I Too large for secrecy and expedition. 2 Too small for wide-reaching deliberation. (See Macaulay's Essay on Sir William Temple.) 2. The Exclusion of James from the Throne. P. 640. a The King's concessions; withdrawal of James to Holland, March, 1679; a Catholic Sovereign to have no civil or military patronage, nor power to dissolve Parliament. Shaftesbury still presses for absolute exclusion, and prepares a Remonstrance from the Commons, and an Address from the City of London. c The King gains time by proroguing Parliament. May, 1679. 3. Monmouth as Claimant for the Throne. Pp. 640, 641. a Monmouth (a bastard son of the King) put forward by Shaftesbury as the heir to the Crown, to the exclusion of James and of the Prince of Orange. Consequent dissolution of the Country Party. b Deserted by his colleagues, Shaftesbury urges on more vehemently the panic of the Popish plot. The Meal-tub Plot. c The King, seeing the breach in the Opposition, dissolves the Cavalier Parliament and dismisses Shaftesbury. November, 1679. F Shaftesbury again in Opposition. 1679-1682. Pp. 642— 646. 1. The King re-opens secret negotiations with France. 2. Beginning of re-action against the story of the Popish plot, in spite of Shaftesbury's efforts to keep up the excitement. 3. Progress of the re-action; feeling begins to rise against the Exclusion Bill, Petitioners and Abhorrers. Return of James to England from Scotland. February, 1680. 4. Resolute attempt of Shaftesbury to force the Exclusion Bill through Parliament. The Bill defeated by Halifax, the mouthpiece of the Prince of Orange. November, 1680. 5. Shaftesbury procures the impeachment and execution of the aged Lord Stafford as an accomplice in the Polish plot. December. 6. Halifax introduces the Limitation Bill, depriving James of right a of veto on any measure passed by Parliament ; b of negotiating with foreign powers; c of civil or military appointments. Opposed by the King. 7. The King, having obtained supplies from France, dissolves his second Parliament (January, 1681) and summons his third Parliament to Oxford, as an appeal against the disloyalty of the capital (March, 1681). 8. The riotous Parliament at Oxford: dissolution after a session of seven days. 9. The King summons his fourth Parliament to London. a A burst of loyalty from the nation. Arrest of Shaftesbury, for suborning false witnesses. c Renewal of the persecution of the Nonconformists. 66 d Flight of Shaftesbury to Holland, and death there. A champion for English freedom, who associated the noblest of causes with the vilest of crimes.” January, 1683. G The Royal Tyranny to the Death of the King. 1683-1685. Pp. 646-649. 1. The Royal Triumph. a The Whig defeat leads to the Rye-house Plot to kill the King and James on their road from London to Newmarket. Execution of Russell and Algernon Sidney, and flight of Monmouth. July, 1683. The University of Oxford proclaims passive obedience as a religious duty. July, 1683. 2. In spite of the Tyranny real constitutional progress made during this reign; due to the work of the Long Parliament. "The King was restored to nothing but what the law gave him." a Cessation of illegal proclamations, and no attempt to revive illegal courts. b Expiration of the statute for the regulation of printing. 1679. No attempt to re-enact it. c The Habeas Corpus Act, abolishing all exceptions to the old practice of the law. I Every prisoner, except for treason or felony, entitled to see the warrant for his imprisonment, even in the vacation of the courts. 2 Prisoners for treason or felony to be released on bail if not indicted at the next sessions, to be discharged if not indicted at the sessions which follow. May 27, 1679. 3. The Despotism of the King. a James re-appointed Lord High Admiral, and readmitted to the Council in spite of the Test Act. 1684. 6 Parliament not re-assembled, in spite of the Triennial Act. c Opposition crushed by I The quashing of town charters, as of London. 2 The increase of the Royal army by the withdrawal 4. The Death of the King. February 6, 1685. a The grief of the people at the King's illness. 6 The King's reconciliation to the Roman Catholic Church. c The King's bravery and humour even in the presence of death. "I am sorry I have been so unconscionable a time in dying." d The King's death the salvation of English freedom. James H. 1685–1688, A Continuation of the Tyranny. Fp. 649-657. 1. Enthusiasm of the country at the pledge of the King to preserve the laws and to protect the Church. "We have the word of a King, and of a King who was never worse than his word." 2. The Rebellions. Pp. 649, 650. 66 on a In Scotland by Argyle, who had escaped to Holland, after being sentenced to death_on_grounds which we should not hang a dog here." Argyle fails, owing to the insubordination of his followers -Sir Patrick Hume and Sir John Cochraneand is executed. June 30, 1685. b In the West of England by Monmouth. Monmouth, supported by the miners of Cornwall, the farmers and traders of Devon and Dorset, and the clothiertowns of Somerset, the gentry standing aloof. Defeat of Monmouth at Sedgemoor, July 6. Execution of Monmouth, July 15, 1685. 3. The Bloody Assize, and Judge Jeffreys. Pp. 650, 651. a Three hundred and fifty rebels hanged, eight hundred sold into slavery, besides those whipped and imprisoned. b Even women scourged from market-town to market, sentenced to death and to the stake for sheltering rebels. (See the cases of Mrs. Lisle and Elizabeth Gaunt, and compare Macaulay's account of the proceedings in his History of England.) c Sale of Pardons by the Queen, the Maids of Honour (the Maids of Taunton), and the Judge. d Ruthlessness of the King. "This marble is not harder than the King's heart." (See Macaulay's account of his interview with Monmouth.) 4. The King's Tyranny. Pp. 651—657. a The King's Foreign Policy. Pp. 651, 652. I In absolute submission to France. "Tell your master that without his protection I can do nothing." |