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Spragge, the English rear-admiral, drowned in at
.... 203
tempting to shift his flag
The Dutch obliged to retreat, in the third engage-
ment, by the valour of prince Rupert and the ear!
208
of Ossory.
The French had little share in the action...... 208
Lewis XIV. obliged to abandon his conquests in the
209
United Provinces
The emperor and the king of Spain sign an alliance
... 209
with the states-general..
1674 Peace between England and Holland .... 209
Charles II offers is mediation to the contending
powers....
Sir William Temple appointed ambassador from
England to the states
210
His conference with the king before his de
parture......
He combats the arbitrary principles of Charles 210
The king seems to be convinced by his argu-
ments...
He finds the states and their allies eager for the pro-
secution of the war....
211
He enters Franche-Comté, and subdues the whole
province...
Vigorous exertions of Lewis XIV.
.....
....... 211
Bloody but indecisive battle of Seneffe, in which the
prince of Orange greatly distinguishes him-
self
He takes Grave, the last town which the French
held in any of the Seven Provinces......... 211
Rapid progress of Turenne.....
......... 212
His cruelties in the Palatinate ......
1675 The prince of Condé able to gain no advan-
tage over the prince of Orange in Flanders.. 212
Masterly movements of Montecuculi and Turenne,
on the side of Germany..
Turenne killed by a cannon-ball..
The French retreat before Montecuculi...
Treves taken by the confederates
212
... 212
.. 212
213
Misfortunes of the king of Sweden, who had been
induced to take part with France
xvii
Venality of Charles II. and of his parliament.. 218
Van Beverning, the Dutch ambassador, signs at
Nimeguen a separate treaty with France.... 218
218
All the other powers obliged to accept the conditions
dictated by Iwis XIV..
219
Stipulations in the treaty of Nimeguen........ 218
Ineffectual attempts to render it void...
Vast power of the French monarch..
LETTER XIV.
England, from the Popish Plot, in 1678, to the
Death of Charles II, with a retrospective View
of the Affairs of Scotland.
land
Great terror of popery and arbitrary power in Eng-
Retrospective view of the affairs of Scotland.. 219
1668 Various measures tried, in order to bring the
people over to episcopacy
220
mains...
Their horror against that mode of worship re-
Wild enthusiasm of the presbyterian teachers 220
1669 Despotic administration of the earl of Lauder-
He renders the king's authority absolute in Scot-
1670 Severe law against conventicles
They continue to be frequented.
Landlords required to engage for the conformity of
their tenants..
dale..
1678 Eight thousand Highlanders quartered on the gentleinen of the western counties, for refusing to sign bonds to that purport.
lence.....
221
Their barbarous rapacity and unfeeling vio-
Lauderdale orders home the Highlanders, and pro-
cures a vote of an assembly of the nobility,
gentry, and clergy of Scotland, in favour of his
administration....
He becomes a pensioner of France.
The prince of Orange obliged to raise the siege of
Maestricht
1676 The king of England concludes a new secret
treaty with Lewis XIV..
England thrown into consternation by the rumour
of a popish plot..
214
The king slights his pretended discoveries..... 222
Packet of forged letters addressed to Bedingfield, the
duke of York's confessor...
Account of Titus Oates, the chief actor in this hor-
rid imposture..
Character of Dr. Tongue, his patron
222
The imperialists take Philipsburg..
Lewis XIV. grows formidable by sea
The French fleet defeats the Spaniards and Dutch Tongue and Oates examined before the privy
off Palermo, in Sicily
Death of De Ruyter...
Congress at Nimeguen.
1677 Great success of the French arms........ 215
Valenciennes taken by assault....
Sir George Wakeman, the queen's physician,
Coleman, late secretary to the dutchess of York,
and other Catholics, taken into custody
215
Murder of sir Edmundsbury Godfrey
Examination of Coleman's papers
flame the popular phrensy..
Advantage taken of this incident, in order to in-
The prince of Orange defeated at Mont Cassel, and
Cambray and St. Omers reduced.......
The English commons solicit the king to enter into
a league, offensive and defensive, with the states
.... 215
general of the United Provinces...
Charles, conformable to his secret engagements
with France, prorogues the parliament, in order
to evade their request.....
223
..... 223
His dead body exposed to view, and his funeral ce-
lebrated with great pomp and parade.
923
the whole kingdom is filled with the most fright-
A universal belief of the popish plot prevails, and
ful apprehensions...
216
The earl of Danby opens the story of the plot in the
house of peers.
His prodigality and disingenuousness
Distracted and declining state of Spain...
Her misfortunes increase on every side, in Flanders,
Sicily, and Catalonia ......
The duke of Luxemburg obliges the prince of
Orange to raise the siege of Charleroy
Mareschal Crequi defeats the views of the duke of
Lorrain, and makes himself master of Frei-
burg ....
Exhausted state of France, in consequence of her
.... 216
great naval and military efforts...
Charles II. of England encourages proposals of
marriage from William III. prince of Orange to
the lady Mary, eldest daughter of the duke of
York....
mons....
224
Oates examined at the bar of the house of com-
Several peers committed to the tower, and im-
peached of high-treason on his evidence..... 224
Coleman and many other Catholics executed.. 224
New test act....
pointed for his protection, and is considered as the
Oates rewarded with a pension, has guards ap-
saviour of the nation
225
Accusation of the lord-treasurer Danby, by Mon-
tagne, the English ambassador at the court of
France..
Evidence produced against him..
His marriage....
Plan of a general pacification.
...... 217
1678 Farther progress of the French arms.... 218
Intrigues of Lewis XIV. in England and in Hol-
A majority of the lords vote against his commit-
An impeachment voted in the house of commons,
and articles exhibited in the house of peers.. 225
His defence..
ment....
918
The commons insist on it
225 225
VOL. II. B
The covenanters more severely persecuted
.... 228
They have recourse to armis.
228
Are routed and dispersed by the duke of Monmouth
at Bothwell bridge.
229
Monmouth uses his victory with moderation 229
The government of Scotland committed to the duke
of York, who persecutes the covenanters with
unfeeling rigour...
Spirit of party still rages in England..
Rise of the names of Whig and Tory
299
The king universally congratulated on his escape
from this danger, and the doctrine of unlimited
passive obedience openly taught
test
235
The university of Oxford passes a solemn decree
in favour of absolute monarchy.
1684 The persecution of the Protestant sectaries
renewed: the perversion of justice carried to a
still greater excess, and the duke of York restored
to the office of high admiral, without taking the
The absolute authority of the king seems complete;
yet even in that height of his power, he is said to
have projected a change of measures.... 235
1685 Sudden illness and death of Charles II... 235
Sketch of his character
Conjectures concerning his religion
LETTER XV.
.... 236
1680 New parliament more violent than either of General View of the Affairs on the Continent, from
the former two.......
The commons bring in a bill for excluding the duke
of York from the throne..
It passes the lower house, but is rejected by the
lords..
Stafford....
The commons, enraged at their disappointment, re-
vive the impeachment of the popish lords.... 229
Trial, condemination, and execution of the earl of
Not satisfied with this sacrifice, the commons con-
tinue to discover their ill-humour in many factious
votes and furious resolutions......
230
1681 The king dissolves the parliament....... 230
Personal character of Charles II....
Review of his public conduct..........
........
the Peace of Nimeguen, in 1678, to the League of
Augsburg, in 1687.
1678 Lewis XIV. supports a vast army in time
of peace, and acts as if absolute master of Eu-
rope
236
He establishes arbitrary tribunals, for reuniting
such territories as bad anciently depended upon
any of his late conquests....
1681 Gets possession of Strasburg, by stratagem 236
His arrogance in regard to the Low Countries 237
1683 He blockades Luxemburg.
... 237
Affairs of the empire ....
...... 237
Tekeli, the head of the Hungarian malecontents,
calls in the Turks to their assistance; and he and
the grand vizier, Kara Mustapha, invade the im-
perial dominions with two great armies
..... 237
The emperor Leopold abandons his capital 237
The grand vizier invests Vienna........
The duke of Lorraine, the imperial general, so for-
tunate as to prevent the Hungarians from forming
a junction with the Turks.....
John Sobieski, king of Poland, comes to the relief
of Vienna.....
The Turks are defeated with great slaughter, and
abandon the siege with the utmost precipitation,
leaving behind them their tents, artillery, and
baggage
senators, sent to Versailles to implore the clemency
of the French monarch
Glory and greatness of Lewis XIV. now at their
height......
239
He sustains an irreparable loss in the death of Col-
bert, his prime minister
View of Colbert's administration of the finances 239
He encouraged the industry and ingenuity of the
French Protestants....
army
xix
Page!
Retrospective view of the affairs of Ireland... 246
239 Talbot, a violent papist, created earl of Tyrconnel,
and appointed lieutenant-general of the king's
forces in that kingdom, dismisses three hundred
Protestant officers, and a great number of private
new modelling the
246
men, under pretence of
..... 239
He is named lord-lieutenant; and the Irish Protest-
ants, seeing all civil authority and military power
transferred into the hands of their religious
enemies, are apprehensive of a new massa-
1687 The king re-establishes the court of High
Commission, and issues a declaration of general
indulgence, or liberty of conscience, "by his sove-
reign authority, and absolute power," to his sub-
246, 247
jects of all religions
He despatches the earl of Castlemain to Rome, in
order to reconcile his kingdoms, in form, to the
holy see..
They are persecuted after his death...
Revocation of the edict of Nantz (Oct. 23).... 239
Cruel and impolitic regulations and ordinances, re-
lative to the persecuted Protestants.....
1686 All the artifices of priestcraft, and all the ter-
rors of military execution ineffectually employed
240
for their conversion......
They make their escape into foreign countries, and
carry with them their wealth, and their skill in
.... 240
ingenious manufactures....
1687 Lewis XIV. quarrels with Innocent XI. and
triumphs over his holiness
Ile awakens the resentment of the emperor Leo-
... 240
pold
A league formed at Augsburg by the continental
powers, for restraining the ambition of the French
monarch
LETTER XVI.
cre..
.... 247
Gives the pope's nuncio a public audience..... 247
Four popishi bishops consecrated at the king's
chapel
The monks appear at court in the habits of their
respective orders
... 247
247
The king attempts to introduce Roman Catholics
into the church and universities
Refusal of the university of Cambridge
Affair of Magdalen College, Oxford
Great Britain and Ireland, during the Reign of It occasions universal discontent and gives a general
James II.
241
Introductory reflections..
1685 King James begins his reign with a declaration
of his resolution to maintain the established reli-
gion and government ........
Discovers his intention of overturning both.... 241
His imperious speech to his first parliament.... 242
The English commons settle on him, during life, the
same revenue enjoyed by the late king at the time
...... 242
of his death....
The Scottish parliament no less liberal and com-
..... 242
plaisant
A conspiracy against the authority of James formed
in Holland, by the dukes of Monmouth and Ar-
243
gyle....
Argyle lands in Scotland, and puts himself at the
head of his clan
He imprudently delays to march into the low part
of the country until the king's troops are as-
sembled...
He is deserted by his followers, made prisoner, and
immediately executed
The duke of Monmouth, in the mean time, lands in
the west of England, is joined by a large body of
adherents, and assumes the title of king..... 243
He attacks the king's forces under the earl of Fe-
versham, at Sedgemoore, near Bridgewater.. 243
Is defeated, and made prisoner
244
His behaviour during his confinement, and at his
execution
Cruelty of the earl of Feversham, after his vic-
tory...
And of colonel Kirk
Frightful severity of chief justice Jefferys..... 244
Two hundred and fifty rebel prisoners executed 245
The king rewards the inhumanity of Jefferys with
a peerage and the office of chancellor....... 245
He augments the number of regular forces, and dis-
penses with the test act, in favour of some Roman
245
Catholic officers ....
The commons vote an address to the king against
his dispensing power.....
16-6 He repeatedly prorogues, and at last dissolves
the parliament...
Demands in vain from the Scottish parliament some
indulgence for the Roman Catholics in that king-
alarm to the clergy.
248
The king endeavours to gain the Protestant dis
senters, and to form a coalition between them and
...... 248
the Catholics.
1688 With this view, he issues anew his declara-
tion of indulgence, and orders it to be read in the
pulpit by all the established clergy.
Sancroft, archbishop of Canterbury, and six bishops,
petition against the reading of it.
They are committed to the tower.....
Tried, and acquitted.
249
Joy of the people on that occasion
alarm the whole nation.
The violence and bigotry of James continue, and
250
The queen delivered of a son...
The birth of the prince of Wales represented as
supposititious
Coalition of whigs and tories, for restoring and se-
curing the English constitution
William prince of Orange is invited over to hold the
950
reins of government, and deliver the nation from
popery and arbitrary power...
This flattering request favoured by the league of
Augsburg..
251
Other circumstances contribute to facilitate the in-
vasion of the prince of Orange
Infatuated security of king James
Both the English fleet and army infected with the
spirit of disloyalty...
James collects his forces
cessions.....
He endeavours to appease the nation by civil con-
252
He restores the charter of London, and the charters
of all the corporations in the kingdom
His conduct not consistent......
Preparations of the prince of Orange...
He puts to sea with fifty ships of the line, fifty
frigates and fireships, and five hundred transports,
carrying fifteen thousand land forces (Oct. 19) 252
Is driven back by a storm to Helvoetsluys..... 253
Again puts to sea, and lands without opposition in
Torbay (Nov. 3).
253
The English fleet, under lord Dartmouth, dispersed
by a violent storm ....
The prince of Orange publishes a declaration, setting
forth the grievances of Great Britain and Ireland,
and his purpose of relieving them........................
distinction join William for some days...... 254
It is received with ardour; but few persons of any
The example being shown by the gentry of the
counties of Devon and Somerset, an association
is formed for his support, and all England is soon
254
in commotion....
B2
246 [The king, who had arrived at Salisbury, is deserted
...
255
Insurrection of the populace in London....... 255
Bishops and peers assemble in Guildhall, and erect
themselves into a supreme council ....... 255
They execute several functions of royalty, and in-
vite the prince of Orange to settle the affairs of
the kingdom.....
William readily accepts the offer, and advances to
Windsor..
255, 256
He there receives the unwelcome news, that the
king had been seized in disguise at Fevers-
ham.
256
James re-enters his capital, amid the loudest accla-
mations
Receives at midnight a message from the prince of
Orange, his son-in-law, ordering him to quit his
palace, and William's Dutch guards take instant
possession of it.... ..........
The king removes next morning to Rochester under
a guard
He still meditates his escape to France, notwith-
standing the warm remonstrances of the earl of
Middleton, lord Dundee, and other firm adhe-
rents...
Accomplishes his design, and arrives safe at Amble-
teuse in Picardy, accompanied by his natural son,
the duke of Berwick..
Character of James II.......
William arrives at St. James's...
257
264
265
General Mackay is sent against him with a body of
regular troops
263
Battle of Killicranky
.... 263
Glorious victory gained by the Highlanders.... 264
Death and character of lord Dundee.......
His army disperses, and all Scotland submits to the
authority of William III......
Siege of Londonderry by king James.....
Gallant defence of the Protestants
Cruel expedient of the marquis de Rosen.....
The place is relieved, and the siege raised
1690 King William lands in Ireland
Battle of the Boyne (July 1)..
Death of the duke of Schomberg
King James defeated, and his army dispersed 265
He imprudently returns to France
Lewis XIV., instead of furnishing him with a new
army, sends transports to carry off the French
troops
265, 266
Ashamed of their defeat, the Irish Catholics col-
lect courage, and every where make a gallant
resistance
266
King William invests Limerick in person, and is
compelled to raise the siege...
Returns to England in disgust, and commits the re-
duction of Ireland to lord Churchill, created earl
of Marlborough...
Marlborough reduces Cork and Kinsale before the
close of the campaign....
1691 Siege of Athlone..
The town gallantly taken by baron Ginckle ... 266
Ginckle defeats the Irish army, under St. Ruth, at
Aghrim, and invests Limerick......... 266, 267
It capitulates, and all Ireland submits to the arms of
William
267
tract
258
Dispute concerning the vacancy of the throne..
Arguments on both sides...
The two houses declare the throne vacant
Dispute relative to the person who shall fill it..
The prince and princess of Orange declared king
and queen of England
259
King William disgusted with the convention parlia-
Great Britain and Ireland, from the Revolution in An insurrection concerted in favour of the dethroned
1688, till the Assassination Plot, in 1696.
1689 Introductory reflections
New separation of parties........
Character of the whigs, tories, and jacobites... 261
Act of toleration...
261
The presbyterian religion re-established in Scot-
land....
The new parliament, which consists almost wholly
of tories, settles on William the revenue of the
crown for life.....
The discontented whigs enter into cabals with the
jacobites.......
1692 Massacre of Glenco..
268
It shocks all Europe, and enables the adherents
of James to render odious the government of
An army of twenty thousand Irish and French
troops falls down towards the coast of Normandy,
in order to co-operate with the insurgents... 268
James and his natural son, the duke of Berwick,
arrive in the French camp
... 268
Famous sea-fight off La Hogue.
269
The French fleet, under Tourville, totally defeated
and ruined by admiral Russell, and the projected
invasion rendered abortive
1693 Corruption of the English house of com-
mons
262
The Military Transactions on the Continent, from
the Beginning of the War that followed the
League of Augsburg, to the Peace of Ryswick,
in 1697, and of Carlowitz, in 1699.
1688 Introductory view of the state of the contend-
ing powers...............
..... 271
1689 Vigorous exertions of Lewis XIV........ 272
He lays the Palatinate waste with fire and sword 272
Finds himself inferior to the allies, though he had
four hundred thousand men in the field...... 272
The French army in Flanders, under the mareschal
d'Humiers, defeated at Walcourt, by the prince
of Waldec
272
The Turks, the allies of France, are routed in three
successive engagements, by the imperialists under
the prince of Baden....
1690 Progress of the mareschal de Catinat in
Italy..
273
Dutch defeated with great slaughter, by the mares
chal de Luxemburg, in the battle of Fleurus 273
Death and character of the duke of Lorrain... 273
His letter to the emperor on his death-bed.......... 273
Rapid progress of the Turks in Hungary. 273
Sea-fight off Beachy-head......
274
The French fleet, under Tourville, defeats the com-
bined fleets of England and Holland......... 274
1691 Inactive campaign in Flanders
The Turks totally routed at Salankeman by the im-
perialists under the prince of Baden.... 274
1692 Namur taken by Lewis XIV. in sight of the
allied army, under king William....... 274, 275
Battle of Steinkirk...
275
The allies defeated by the French..
The imperialists take great Waradin from the
Turks....
1693 Lewis XIV. appears with great pomp in Flan-
ders......
But suddenly returns to Versailles, and sends part
of his army into Germany.....
Conjectures concerning the cause of so unexpected
276
.... 276
They are attacked by the French army, under Lux-
emburg
And routed with great slaughter, in spite of their
most vigorous efforts, directed by the courage and
conduct of William.
277
Cruelty of the French in Germany.
Military operations in Catalonia and Piedmont 277
The mareschal de Noailles takes Roses
Battle of Marsaglia.
The French army in Italy, under the mareschal de
Catinat, defeats the allies, commanded by the duke
of Savoy..
Naval affairs.....
278
The French frigates and privateers distress the Eng-
lish and Dutch trade...
Tourville captures and destroys great part of their
Smyrna fleet
279
France afflicted with a dreadful famine....... 278
1694 The allies retake Huy.. Mareschal de Noailles forces the passage of the river Ter, and defeats the Spaniards.
Death of the duke of Luxemburg.
1695 King William retakes Namur
Progress of the Turks, under Mustapha II.... 279
1696 Congress opened at Ryswick
1697 Peace concluded there, between France and
the allied powers...........
280
Stipulations in the treaty of Ryswick.....
...... 280
Battle of Zenta
The Turks totally routed by the imperialists under
prince Eugene..
1699 Peace of Carlowitz, between the grand seig- nior and the Christian powers.....
LETTER XIX.
... 280
281
Becomes altogether romantic during the regency of
Anne of Austria..
282
The ladies appear openly at the head of factions,
adorned with the ensigns of their party..... 282
French manners attain their highest polish during
the reign of Lewis XIV..
Account of the origin of duelling.
.... 282
The practice, though pernicious and absurd, at-
tended with some beneficial consequences... 283
Rapid progress of arts and literature in France 283
Observations of the French Academy on the Cid 283
Character of the more early French writers... 283
State of sculpture, painting, and music, during the
reign of Lewis XIV..
283, 284
The progress of taste and politeness slow in the
north of Europe.....
284
Influence of the Reformation in awakening a free-
dom of thinking.
Rise and diffusion of the doctrine of toleration 284
The ancient heathens not generally persecutors 285
The first Christians inclined to persecution.... 285
They practise it, as soon as invested with the civil
power...
The popish clergy become more learned, and less
exceptionable in their morals....
.... 287
Institution of the order of jesuits, for the support of
the jurisdiction of the holy see...
287
Character and conduct of that order...
288
The jesuits acquire the chief direction of the edu
cation of youth in every Catholic kingdom, and
become confessors to most Catholic princes.. 288
They act as missionaries, and obtain a license to
trade with the nations they seek to convert.. 288
Open warehouses in different parts of Europe,
where they vend their commodities.....
Propagate a system of pliant morality, which justi-
fies every crime, and tolerates every vice.... 288
Revive those doctrines that tend to exalt ecclesiasti-
cal power on the ruins of civil authority..... 288
The chosen soldiers of the pope, they consider it as
their peculiar function to combat the opinions of
the Protestants, and to check the progress of the
Reformation....
289
State of manners and literature in England during
the reign of Elizabeth