Parliaments of William III. only twelve thousand men should be allowed to remain CHAP. III. in Ireland. The King's Dutch regiment of guards was thus to be sent out of the kingdom. William was greatly chagrined both at the step itself and the supine attitude of his Ministers. He could clearly perceive, he said, that he would be driven to extreme measures, and even prepared the draft of a speech in which he was determined to express to Parliament his intention of withdrawing himself from England. Had he fulfilled his threat, it is impossible to see into what grave difficulties the country might not have been plunged. In the Lords the bill for disbanding the troops was condemned by Marlborough and others, but the peers did not venture to reject the measure. The King reluctantly gave his assent to the bill on February 1st. Once more, however, he made an effort to preserve his Dutch guards, but the Commons drew up an address stating the reasons why the King's request could not be complied with. Although William regarded this as impertinent, he was obliged to give way. Backed by the country, which generally was in favour of dismissing the troops, the extreme Whigs and Tories combined, and Ministers were powerless before such a coalition. etc. An address was next presented on the irregularities Navy irrewhich prevailed in the management of the navy, and gularities, Lord Orford, against whom the address was levelled, resigned his important posts. He had rendered signal services to his country, and, although he had received presents from the States which he had protected, the English fleet had never been better cared for or provided for than while under his command. The Commons now declared the naturalised French refugees, who had supported Montague at the elections, incapable of holding any civil or military post; and at the same time threw out a proposal for disfranchising those who had been lukewarm in acknowledging the King. The King prorogued Parliament on May 4th, 1699, Prorogation of evidently dissatisfied with the work of the session. In addition to seriously curtailing his military authority, the ment. Parlia Parliaments of William III. Ministerial changes. CHAP. III. Commons had scarcely voted one half the sums given him in previous years. He had looked for unanimity and despatch, and hoped that no public inconveniences would be felt during the recess. Various Court and Ministerial changes now occurred. Bentinck, Earl of Portland, long William's chosen friend, resigned the post of Chamberlain, mainly owing to the growing favour of his rival, Keppel, Earl of Albemarle, with the King. More important still was the resignation of Montague, who was unable longer to contend against the Tory animosity. He was succeeded as Chancellor of the Exchequer by his friend Smith, a more pliable man and a fluent speaker. The changes in the administration, however, did not answer the King's expectation by smoothing the current of public business, though Somers as Lord Chancellor was still a tower of strength. It was the great object of Somers to reconcile the monarchical power with constitutional liberties, and no Chancellor had hitherto commanded such universal confidence in the City, though attacks began to be made upon him within the walls of Parliament. The King and the Commons. In opening the second session of his fourth Parliament on November 16th, the King observed that the common security required a further provision for the safety of the kingdom by sea and land. It was also necessary to make good the deficiencies in the funds, and to discharge the debts contracted by reason of the war. He then drew attention to the question of the maintenance of the poor and the desirability of finding labour for the unemployed. Although there was considerable tension in the country owing to the previous attitude of the King, and certain utterances of the Judges against the House of Commons, William carefully avoided all controversial topics. But in their address the Commons dwelt upon the necessity for entire mutual confidence between King and Parliament, and as the House had amply provided for the security of the King and the nation, they called upon his Majesty to show marks of his high displeasure towards all persons who had presumed or should presume to Parlia ments of William III. misrepresent their proceedings to him. The King replied CHAP. III. that there had been no such intermeddling persons, or they would have immediately felt the highest marks of his displeasure. He also said that the happiness of an English king depended upon an entirely good correspondence between him and his Parliament. But the Commons would not rest content with these Address general assurances. They moved an Address against against Lord Chancellor Somers, both as the most powerful of Ministers and the inspirer of the offending Judges. He was assailed for complicity in the piracies of Captain Kidd, because he had given Kidd a patent for the suppression of piracy in the East Indies and had subscribed to the expedition. It was complained that Kidd was nothing better than a pirate himself, and that his patent provided that all goods brought in by him were to belong to those who had equipped him, of whom the Lord Chancellor was one. This was held to be illegal, and the old East India Company, which asserted that its trade had been ruined by Kidd, pressed forward its grievances, with the aid of many prominent Tories in Parliament. But as, in addition to the Whig Chancellor, such important men as Shrewsbury, Orford, Rumney, and Bellamont were implicated, and as the jurists were on the side of Somers, the House of Commons decided that the patent was legal, though there was a considerable minority against this. estates. Another and a more important difficulty arose out of Irish forthe Irish forfeited estates. The right to dispose of them feited had been in dispute since 1690. The King claimed the power of disposing of them as he pleased, but the Commons held that they ought to be applied in making good the war charges incurred in subduing the island, and certainly that the confiscated lands ought not to be distributed amongst courtiers, nor, above all, given to foreigners. Loud complaints were heard as to the actual disposition of a large portion of these lands by William amongst his friends and generals-Bentinck, Keppel, Ginkell, etc. Commissioners were appointed to Parliaments of III. CHAP. III. take an account of the forfeited estates, and these went over to Ireland for the purpose. The matter gave great William umbrage to the King; but the commissioners proceeded with their task, and on its completion prepared a report, which was laid before Parliament on December 15th, 1699. Thereupon the Lower House resolved that a bill should be brought in to apply all the forfeited estates and interests in Ireland and all grants thereof, and the rents and revenues belonging to the Crown within that kingdom since the day of William III.'s accessionFebruary 13th, 1688-to the use of the public; and a clause was ordered to be inserted in the bill for erecting a judicature for determining claims touching the said forfeited estates. The feeling was so strong against the grants generally that even men like Montague, who had participated in them, voted for their withdrawal. Party recrimina tions. King and Commons claim the estates. When the second reading of the bill dealing with the estates came on-January 18th, 1700-Ministers, acting reluctantly upon the King's wish, proposed a clause dividing the vacant properties into three parts, one being reserved for the King, one for the army, and one for the English nation. It met with such resistance, however, that its introducers did not venture to take a formal division upon it, and the idea was abandoned. But the matter was not permitted to rest here. The Commons passed a resolution to the effect that, by their advice and co-operation in these alienations, Ministers had burdened the nation with debts and taxes, had even stained the King's honour, and that their course had exhibited a grave dereliction of duty. The Whigs were alarmed at the prospect of their denunciation by the nation, and tried to prove that Tories like Godolphin and Seymour had also been concerned in the alienations. A deputation from the Commons laid the resolution before the King. In his answer William not only asserted his right to the forfeited estates, but pointed out that the House might have been better employed in devising other means for the reduction of the debt than by recalling Parliaments of William III. the royal grants. The Commons were furious, and after CHAP. III. a heated discussion passed a resolution that whosoever advised the King's answer had used his utmost endeavours to create misunderstanding and jealousy between the King and his people. Parliament was thus in antagonism with both the sovereign and his Ministers. But it adhered to its claim over the confiscated estates, and when at a later stage it voluntarily inserted some grants in the bill, it only thereby further accentuated its constitutional right and authority; and it was supported in its action by the vast majority of the nation, who naturally looked for a diminution of the public burdens. by the resumption of the forfeited lands. Unable to contend against the feeling in the Commons, the Whigs looked for support to the House of Lords. The Forfeited Estates Bill was designedly tacked by the Commons to the Landed Tax Bill, in the belief that the peers would not dare to reject a money bill. The Lords complained of the compulsion thus put upon them, but passed the second reading. In committee, however, the Whig peers brought forward several amendments. Wharton was the chief spokesman, but the Duke of Devonshire openly declared that the bill broke down the barriers between Crown and people, and that he would never consent to it. But there were other firm friends of the King who were for passing the bill. Bishop Burnet was the most influential of these, and he said he was "willing to venture his Majesty's displeasure rather than please him in that which he feared would be the ruin of his government." Afterwards, when the Bishop grasped the working of the bill, he declared that if he had understood the matter in time he would never have given his vote for it. He also determined "never to consent again to any tack to a money bill as long as he lived." The Lords and the Bill. mons are The Lords ultimately adopted the amendments, but The Comthis only made the Commons the more resolute. Most victorious. of the leading men, including Harley, Seymour, and Musgrave, declared against the changes, and declined under the circumstances to proceed to vote the supplies. This |