CHAPTER VI. William sets sail for England-Circulates a manifesto giving his reasons for the expedition-William lands in Devonshire -Embarrassment and agitation of the King-Men of influence gradually join the Prince-Lord Cornbury joins William-Risings in favour of the Prince take place in many parts of the kingdom - James leaves London for Salisbury, and William advances from Exeter-Lord Churchill deserts James - Flight of the Princess Anne-James returns to London-Debate in the Council-Lord Dartmouth refuses to convey the Prince of Wales to France-Writs are issued for a new Parlia ment. WILLIAM had set sail from Helvoet-Sluys on the 19th of October; but, after being a few hours at sea, had been driven back by a violent storm, in which the whole fleet was scattered; one ship was driven with her crew on the English coast, and many others were severely damaged. But the injuries were soon repaired; and by the end of the month, the armament was re-equipped. November opened eventfully. On All Saint's Day,' a favourite divine, Father Gaillard, was preaching before Louis at Versailles, when the great War Minister, Louvois, suddenly interrupted the service, by bringing to the King a despatch, announcing the capture of the important fortress of Philipsbourg by the Dauphin. The King stopped the sermon, announced 1 See Madame de Sevigné's Letter to Madame de Grignon, dated November 3rd, 1688. See the Author's "History of France under the Bourbons," II. p. 294. H the triumph aloud to the congregation, and offered up an extemporaneous prayer of thanksgiving; and then the preacher, being allowed to resume his discourse, so improved the occasion with a description of the visible favour shown by the Almighty to the King and all his enterprises, that the whole congregation was dissolved in tears. The success, such as it was, was abundantly counterbalanced. The wind, which throughout nearly the whole of October had blown from the south-west, had suddenly shifted to the east, the Protestant wind, as for the last fortnight the citizens of London had been calling it in their prayers, and before sunset on the same 1st of November, his persevering enemy, the Prince of Orange, again put to sea, at the head of probably the most numerous fleet which had ever been seen in the British Channel. More than fifty men-of-war escorted above 500 transports, conveying 5,000 cavalry, 11,000 infantry, about half of which were English regiments, which had for some time been in the service of the States; and with them many English and Scotch nobles, who had joined the Prince within the last few weeks, the Earl of Shrewsbury, the Earl of Macclesfield, the Earl of Argyll, the Earl of Winchester, and others, some of whom had brought money, which they had raised by mortgages on their estates, to aid the enterprise. So eagerly did the Dutch enter into the attempt, that they even dismantled their fortresses to supply the army with artillery, and retained but twelve men-of-war for the defence of their coasts. There had been a great discussion in William's Council, what should be the point of destination. Lord Danby had recommended some Yorkshire port, because his influence was greatest in that district; but Herbert had objected to William sails for England. 99 keep the fleet off that coast during the winter, and eventually William resolved to endeavour to land in Yorkshire, and then to send the fleet round to the Channel.1 William himself led the way in the "Brill" frigate, at the topmast of which his flag bore the arms of England and Nassau, with his hereditary motto, "I will Maintain," lengthened by the addition of the words, "The Liberties of England and the Protestant Religion." But the fleet was under the command of the English Admiral Herbert, the same officer who, in June, had undertaken the dangerous enterprise of conveying him the invitation. The Dutch sailors had not consented without some reluctance to serve under a foreign commander, who also belonged to the nation with which, in the course of the last thirty years, they had been engaged in such frequent and fierce struggles; but William, whose policy was by all means to avoid a battle if possible, conceived that, if he should meet the English fleet, Herbert's influence with the British sailors might very probably avert an engagement; while, if a battle should prove inevitable, his success, if he should succeed, would be less mortifying to English pride for being achieved by their own countryOf the army, William himself was Commander-in man. 1 Macaulay represents the northward course taken by the fleet on first leaving harbour to have been only a feint to deceive the English light vessels which Lord Dartmouth had sent to watch it; but I have preferred to follow Burnet, who was in the fleet, and can hardly have been mistaken as to William's design. He reports the discussion which took place in the Prince's Council on the subject, and then proceeds to say: "The Prince was resolved to have split the matter and to have landed in the north, and then to have sent the fleet to lie in the Channel" (p. 778); and (p. 787) affirms that it was only the impossibility, on the 1st of November, of making head against the wind so as to get to the north, tha ultimately led to the landing in Devonshire. Chief; the second in command was the French Marshal Schomberg, who, being a Protestant, had been driven from the service of Louis by the revocation of the Edict of Nantes; and who was expected to be almost as acceptable in England as a native, being recommended to the English partly by the sacrifices which he had made for the sake of religion, and partly by an intimate acquaintance with their language; and also by his friendship with many of the leading men of the kingdom, to whom he had become known in more than one long visit which he had paid to this country.1 A Scotch officer of reputation, General Mackay, had the English regiments under his special command. On that same day also, a manifesto, or Declaration as it was called, reached London, and began to be secretly circu When The Count Schomberg was a sufficiently remarkable man to deserve a more extended notice than could be taken of him in the text. Louis first began to take the government of his kingdom into his own hands, Turenne had recommended Schomberg to the King as one of the ablest officers in the army. Many successful campaigns in Portugal, Spain, and Flanders had fully borne out the great Marshal's panegyric. In one memorable instance, Schomberg had foiled William himself, and had compelled him to raise the siege of Maestrecht, though the Prince, as was not unusual with him, conducted his retreat with such skilful hardihood that he rather gained than lost credit by his failure. And so thoroughly did the Count impress Louis with a sense of his value that, though he refused to purchase a marshal's truncheon by the desertion of his religion, Louis gave it to him without insisting on the sacrifice, and he was the last Huguenot who ever obtained that much-coveted promotion. In spite, however, of religious differences, Louis had no more faithful servant till the fatal bigotry of Madame de Maintenon and the Jesuits overcame his principles of toleration or indifference. No exception was made, even in favour of such a man as the Count, in the rigour with which the revocation of the Edict of Nantes was carried out; and Schomberg, deprived of rank and employment, withdrew to Holland, where his former antagonist, the Prince, received him with open arms. Schomberg, too, had national injuries to avenge besides his own, for he was a native of the Palatinate which Louis had so cruelly ravaged. 66 William's Manifesto. ΙΟΙ lated by William's partisans. It had been drawn up by the Dutch minister, Fagel, with the aid of Burnet, and specified the principal causes which had moved the Prince to undertake the enterprise: "The grievances of the English people flowing from the King's open and notorious violation of "the established laws of the kingdom; through too great a "compliance with the advice of evil counsellors;" for the whole paper carefully preserved the constitutional distinction between the King and his ministers. "The exercise of the "dispensing power, which laid all the laws at the foot of the "throne, and which had been used for the purpose of breaking down the barriers contrived for the security of the Pro"testant religion. The Court of High Commission had been illegally erected, and an avowed Papist had been placed 66 upon it for the express purpose of oppressing the Church "of England; the charters of many boroughs and cities had "been illegally forfeited; magistrates had been removed in great numbers for no offence but a refusal to break, or to " connive at breaking the law; and it had been charged as "a crime, even against prelates and peers of the realm, that "they had petitioned against such conduct. Finally, there 66 66 66 66 were grave reasons for believing that an attempt had been "made to rob the Princess of her lawful inheritance, by in"troducing a supposititious child into the royal family. To 66 put an end to these evils, the Prince had been solicited by "many of the peers, both spiritual and temporal, to cross 62 over to England to procure the meeting of a free Parliament, "legally convened and elected; which was the only constitu"tional and effectual remedy for them. He had no other "object. To such a Parliament he would leave the regula❝tion of all the matters in question, acquiescing in and supporting their decisions in every point; and especially all 66 |