The History of England, from the Accession of James II Novel Chapters
List of most recent chapters published for the The History of England, from the Accession of James II novel. A total of 171 chapters have been translated and the release date of the last chapter is Apr 02, 2024
Latest Release: Chapter 1 : The History of England from the Accession of James II.by Thomas Babington Macaulay.Volum
The History of England from the Accession of James II.by Thomas Babington Macaulay.Volume 1.CHAPTER I.I PURPOSE to write the history of England from the accession of King James the Second down to a time which is within the memory of men still living. I sh
- 171 [Footnote 17: Commons Journals, February 24. 27.; March 9. 1698/9 In the Vernon Correspondence a letter about the East India question which belongs to the year 1699/1700 is put under the date of Feb. 10 1698. The truth is that this most valuable correspon
- 170 As soon as the fault into which Lewis had been hurried by pity, by the desire of applause, and by female influence was complete and irreparable, he began to feel serious uneasiness. His ministers were directed to declare everywhere that their master had n
- 169 Indeed the dissentient commissioners had worse evils to apprehend than that of being left unremunerated. One of them, Sir Richard Levinz, had mentioned in private to his friends some disrespectful expressions which had been used by one of his colleagues a
- 168 The voyage was horrible. Scarcely any Guinea slave s.h.i.+p has ever had such a middle pa.s.sage. Of two hundred and fifty persons who were on board of the Saint Andrew, one hundred and fifty fed the sharks of the Atlantic before Sandy Hook was in sight.
- 167 He had always been afraid of ghosts and demons; and it had long been necessary that three friars should watch every night by his restless bed as a guard against hobgoblins. But now he was firmly convinced that he was bewitched, that he was possessed, that
- 166 Nothing had done more to diminish the influence of Montague in the House of Commons than a step which he had taken a few weeks before the meeting of the Parliament. It would seem that the result of the general election had made him uneasy, and that he had
- 165 Altered Position of the Ministry--The Elections--First Part.i.tion Treaty--Domestic Discontent--Littleton chosen Speaker--King's Speech; Proceedings relating to the Amount of the Land Force--Unpopularity of Montague--Bill for Disbanding the Army--The
- 164 Thence came the finest tobacco, the finest chocolate, the finest indigo, the finest cochineal, the hides of innumerable wild oxen, quinquina, coffee, sugar. Either the viceroyalty of Mexico or the viceroyalty of Peru would, as an independent state with po
- 163 The task which he had undertaken was not an easy one. For, while his opponents were united, his adherents were divided. Most of those who were for a New Company thought that the New Company ought, like the Old Company, to trade on a joint stock. But there
- 162 The History of England from the Accession of James II.by Thomas Babington Macaulay.PREFACE TO THE FIFTH VOLUME.I HAVE thought it right to publish that portion of the continuation of the "History of England" which was fairly transcribed and revis
- 161 [Footnote 787: Commons' Journals, April 1. 3. 1697; Narcissus Luttrell's Diary; L'Hermitage, April 2/12 As L'Hermitage says, "La plupart des membres, lorsqu'ils sont a la campagne, estant bien aises d'estre informez par plus d'un endroit de ce qui
- 160 [Footnote 741: Lansdowne MS. 801.][Footnote 742: I take my account of these proceedings from the Commons'Journals, from the despatches of Van Cleverskirke and L'Hermitage to the States General, and from Vernon's letter to Shrewsbury of the 27th of Octo
- 159 [Footnote 696: London Newsletter, May 21. 1696; Old Postmaster, June 25.; L'Hermitage, May 19/29.][Footnote 697: Haynes's Brief Memoirs, Lansdowne MSS. 801.][Footnote 698: See the pet.i.tion from Birmingham in the Commons'Journals, Nov. 12. 1696; and t
- 158 [Footnote 647: Commons' Journals, Dec. 13. 1695.][Footnote 648: Stat. 7 Gul. 3.c. [1].; Lords' and Commons' Journals; L'Hermitage, Dec 31/Jan 10 Jan 7/17 10/20 14/24 1696. L'Hermitage describes in strong language the extreme inconvenience caused by t
- 157 [Footnote 601: There is an excellent portrait of Villeroy in St. Simon's Memoirs.][Footnote 602: Some curious traits of Trumball's character will be found in Pepys's Tangier Diary.][Footnote 603: Postboy, June 13., July 9. 11., 1695; Intelligence Domes
- 156 [Footnote 558: Prior to Lord and Lady Lexington, Jan. 14/24 1695. The letter is among the Lexington papers, a valuable collection, and well edited.][Footnote 559: Monthly Mercury for January 1695. An orator who p.r.o.nounced an eulogium on the Queen at Ut
- 155 [Footnote 512: Stat. 5 & 6 W. & M. c. 22.; Narcissus Luttrell's Diary.][Footnote 513: Stat. 5 W. & M. c. 7.; Evelyn's Diary, Oct. 5, Nov. 22.1694; A Poem on Squire Neale's Projects; Malcolm's History of London.Neale's functions are described in sever
- 154 It ought to be remarked that, in the Life of James compiled from his own Papers, the a.s.surances of support which he received from Marlborough, Russell, G.o.dolphin Shrewsbury, and other men of note are mentioned with very copious details. But there is n
- 153 That Dunfermline was grossly ill used is plain even from the Memoirs of Dundee, 1714.][Footnote 425: So early as the year 1690, that conclave of the leading Jacobites which gave Preston his instructions made a strong representation to James on this subjec
- 152 [Footnote 391: Bohun's Autobiography.][Footnote 392: Bohun's Autobiography; Commons' Journals, Jan. 20.1692/3.][Footnote 393: Ibid. Jan. 20, 21. 1692/3][Footnote 394: Oldmixon; Narcissus Luttrell's Diary, Nov. and Dec. 1692; Burnet, ii. 334; Bohun's
- 151 [Footnote 344: Lords' and Commons' Journals, Nov. 4., Jan. 1692.][Footnote 345: Commons' Journals, Nov. 10 1692.][Footnote 346: See the Lords' Journals from Nov. 7. to Nov. 18. 1692; Burnet, ii. 102. Tindall's account of these pro
- 150 [Footnote 298: Burnet, ii. 84.][Footnote 299: Narcissus Luttrell's Diary.][Footnote 300: Monthly Mercuries of January and April 1693; Burnet, ii.84. In the Burnet MS. Hail. 6584, is a warm eulogy on the Elector of Bavaria. When the MS. was written he
- 149 [Footnote 252: Life of James, ii. 479. 524. Memorials furnished by Ferguson to Holmes in the Nairne Papers.][Footnote 253: Life of James, ii. 474.][Footnote 254: See the Monthly Mercuries of the spring of 1692.][Footnote 255: Narcissus Luttrell's Dia
- 148 [Footnote 207: Burnet, i. 418.][Footnote 208: Crawford to Melville, July 23. 1689; The Master of Stair to Melville, Aug. 16. 1689; Cardross to Melville, Sept. 9. 1689; Balcarras's Memoirs; Annandale's Confession, Aug. i4. 1690.][Footnote 209: Br
- 147 [Footnote 167: White's Account of the Trade to the East Indies, 1691; Hamilton's New Account of the East Indies; Sir John Wyborne to Pepys from Bombay, Jan. 7. 1688.][Footnote 168: London Gazette, Feb. 16/26 1684.][Footnote 169: Hamilton's
- 146 [Footnote 122: Story's Continuation; Diary of the Siege of Lymerick.][Footnote 123: London Gazette, Oct. S. 1691; Story's Continuation; Diary of the Siege of Lymerick.][Footnote 124: Life of James, 464, 465.][Footnote 125: Story's Continuat
- 145 15/25. 1689, Avaux says: "Je ne puis m'empescher de vous dire qu'il est brave de sa personne, a ce que l'on dit mais que c'est un aussy mechant officie, qu'il en ayt, et qu'il n'a pas le sens commun."][Footnote
- 144 "Mr. Penn says that Your Majesty has had several occasions, but never any so favourable, as the present; and he hopes that Your Majesty will be earnest with the most Christian King not to neglect it: that a descent with thirty thousand men will not o
- 143 The way through the Borough to the bridge was lined by the Surrey militia; the way from the bridge to Walbrook by three regiments of the militia of the City. All along Cheapside, on the right hand and on the left, the livery were marshalled under the stan
- 142 Surely Sir Stephen Fox was, of all the Lords of the Treasury, the fittest to be at the head of the Board. He was an elderly man, grave, experienced, exact, laborious; and he had never made a verse in his life. The King hesitated during a considerable time
- 141 said another orator, "did not dare to take Naboth's vineyard from him till she had suborned two men of Belial to swear falsely." "If the testimony of one grave elder had been sufficient," it was asked, "what would have become
- 140 "I am astonished," the King wrote, "at the fellow's effrontery. You know me too well to think that such stories as his can make any impression on me. Observe this honest man's sincerity. He has nothing to say except against my fri
- 139 Without leaving his counting house in Cheapside, he had been chosen to represent a place which he had never seen. Such things were intolerable.No man, it was said, ought to sit in the English legislature who was not master of some hundreds of acres of Eng
- 138 While Barclay was making all his arrangements for the a.s.sa.s.sination, Berwick was endeavouring to persuade the Jacobite aristocracy to rise in arms. But this was no easy task. Several consultations were held; and there was one great muster of the party
- 137 The evil proceeded with constantly accelerating velocity. At length in the autumn of 1695 it could hardly be said that the country possessed, for practical purposes, any measure of the value of commodities. It was a mere chance whether what was called a s
- 136 Early in the afternoon the a.s.sault was made in four places at once by four divisions of the confederate army. One point was a.s.signed to the Brandenburghers, another to the Dutch, a third to the Bavarians, and a fourth to the English. The English were
- 135 Sir William Parkyns, a wealthy knight bred to the law, who had been conspicuous among the Tories in the days of the Exclusion Bill, was one of the most important members of the confederacy. He bore a much fairer character than most of his accomplices; but
- 134 About a fortnight after the death of Halifax, a fate far more cruel than death befell his old rival and enemy, the Lord President. That able, ambitious and daring statesman was again hurled down from power. In his first fall, terrible as it was, there had
- 133 Meanwhile unlicensed pamphlets, in which the Lancas.h.i.+re plot was cla.s.sed with Oates's plot, with Dangerfield's plot, with Fuller's plot, with Young's plot, with Whitney's plot, were circulated all over the kingdom, and espec
- 132 Gradually even those who had been loudest in murmuring against the innovation gave way and conformed to the prevailing usage. The last person who held out, strange to say, was Sir Dudley North. When, in 1680, after residing many years abroad, he returned
- 131 He had none of the external graces of an orator. His countenance was heavy, his figure mean and somewhat deformed, and his gestures uncouth.Yet he was heard with respect. For, such as his mind was, it had been a.s.siduously cultivated. His youth had been
- 130 The Ministry is, in fact, a committee of leading members of the two Houses. It is nominated by the Crown; but it consists exclusively of statesmen whose opinions on the pressing questions of the time agree, in the main, with the opinions of the majority o
- 129 The French were victorious; but they had bought their victory dear. More than ten thousand of the best troops of Lewis had fallen. Neerwinden was a spectacle at which the oldest soldiers stood aghast. The streets were piled breast high with corpses. Among
- 128 State of the Court of Saint Germains--Feeling of the Jacobites; Compounders and Noncompounders--Change of Ministry at Saint Germains; Middleton--New Declaration put forth by James--Effect of the new Declaration--French Preparations for the Campaign; Inst.
- 127 One strange inconsistency in the conduct of the reformers of that generation deserves notice. It never occurred to any one of those who were zealous for the Triennial Bill that every argument which could be urged in favour of that bill was an argument aga
- 126 The land tax was fixed, for the year 1693, at four s.h.i.+llings in the pound, and consequently brought about two millions into the Treasury.That sum, small as it may seem to a generation which has expended a hundred and twenty millions in twelve months,
- 125 His confession was immediately published in several languages, and was read with very various and very strong emotions. That it was genuine could not be doubted; for it was warranted by the signatures of some of the most distinguished military men living.
- 124 Yet the embarra.s.sment caused by the rapacity of the allied courts was scarcely greater than the embarra.s.sment caused by their ambition and their pride. This prince had set his heart on some childish distinction, a t.i.tle or a cross, and would do noth
- 123 The sincerity of these professions was soon brought to the test. A few hours after the meeting on board of the Britannia the masts of Tourville's squadron were seen from the cliffs of Portland. One messenger galloped with the news from Weymouth to Lo
- 122 The night was rough. Hamilton and his troops made slow progress, and were long after their time. While they were contending with the wind and snow, Glenlyon was supping and playing at cards with those whom he meant to butcher before daybreak. He and Lieut
- 121 Charles the First gave his a.s.sent to the Pet.i.tion of Right, and immediately violated every clause of that great statute. Charles the Second gave his a.s.sent to an Act which provided that a Parliament should be held at least once in three years; but w
- 120 The Revolution produced, as was natural, some change in the sentiments of both the great parties. In the days when none but Roundheads and Nonconformists were accused of treason, even the most humane and upright Cavaliers were disposed to think that the l
- 119 CHAPTER XVIII Opening of the Parliament--Debates on the Salaries and Fees of Official Men--Act excluding Papists from Public Trust in Ireland--Debates on the East India Trade--Debates on the Bill for regulating Trials in Cases of High Treason--Plot formed
- 118 On the eleventh of July, Ginkell, having repaired the fortifications of Athlone and left a garrison there, fixed his headquarters at Ballinasloe, about four miles from Aghrim, and rode forward to take a view of the Irish position. On his return he gave or
- 117 On the English side of this pale there was a rude and imperfect order.Two Lords Justices, Coningsby and Porter, a.s.sisted by a Privy Council, represented King William at Dublin Castle. Judges, Sheriffs and Justices of the Peace had been appointed; and a.
- 116 The History of England from the Accession of James II.by Thomas Babington Macaulay.Volume 4.CHAPTER XVII William's Voyage to Holland--William's Entrance into the Hague--Congress at the Hague--William his own Minister for Foreign Affairs--William
- 115 "Let him with his blue riband be Tied close up to the gallows tree For my lady a cart; and Id contrive it, Her dancing son and heir should drive it."] [Footnote 808: As to the designs of the Whigs against Caermarthen, see Burnet, ii. 68, 69, and
- 114 [Footnote 767: Faithful Contendings Displayed; Case of the present Afflicted Episcopal Clergy in Scotland, 1690.][Footnote 768: Act. Parl. April 25. 1690.][Footnote 769: See the Humble Address of the Presbyterian Ministers and Professors of the Church of
- 113 Hutton, licensed June 27. 1690.][Footnote 721: See the Collection of Medals of Lewis the Fourteenth.][Footnote 722: This anecdote, true or false, was current at the time, or soon after. In 1745 it was mentioned as a story which old people had heard in the
- 112 [Footnote 679: Villare Hibernic.u.m, 1690.][Footnote 680: The order addressed to the Collector of Customs will be found in Dr. Reid's History of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland.][Footnote 681: "La gayete peinte sur son visage," says Dumo
- 111 [Footnote 630: Lauzun to Louvois, May 28/June 7 1690.][Footnote 631: Lauzun to Louvois, April 2/12 May 10/20. 1690. La Hoguette, who held the rank of Marechal de Camp, wrote to Louvois to the same effect about the same time.][Footnote 632: "La Politi
- 110 [Footnote 586: Till some years after this time the First Lord of the Treasury was always the man of highest rank at the Board. Thus Monmouth, Delamere and G.o.dolphin took their places according to the order of precedence in which they stood as peers.][Fo
- 109 [Footnote 543: Commons' Journals, Oct. 26. 1689; Wood's Athenae Oxonienses; Dod's Church History, VIII. ii. 3.][Footnote 544: Commons' Journals, October 28. 5689. The proceedings will be found in the collection of State Trials.][Footno
- 108 [Footnote 497: See Collier's Desertion discussed, 1689. Thomas Carte, who was a disciple, and, at one time, an a.s.sistant of Collier, inserted, so late as the year 1747, in a bulky History of England, an exquisitely absurd note in which he a.s.sured
- 107 [Footnote 453: The treaty between the Emperor and the States General is dated May 12. 1689. It will be found in Dumont's Corps Diplomatique.][Footnote 454: See the despatch of Waldeck in the London Gazette, Aug.26, 1689; historical Records of the Fir
- 106 [Footnote 408: See Grey's Debates, and the Commons' Journals from March to July. The twelve categories will be found in the journals of the 23d and 29th of May and of the 8th of June.][Footnote 409: Halifax MS. in the British Museum.][Footnote 4
- 105 [Footnote 367: As to the battle, see Mackay's Memoirs Letters, and Short Relation the Memoirs of Dundee; Memoirs of Sir Ewan Cameron; Nisbet's and Osburne's depositions in the Appendix to the Act. Parl. Of July 14. 1690. See also the accoun
- 104 'Ffy,' quod St. Peter, 'thou wilt never do weel, 'An thou, but new made, so sane gaffs to steal.''Umff,' quod the Hielandman, and swore by yon kirk, 'So long as I may geir get to steal, will I nevir work."'
- 103 [Footnote 281: Creichton's Memoirs.][Footnote 282: Mackay's Memoirs.][Footnote 283: Memoirs of the Lindsays.][Footnote 284: About the early relation between William and Dundee, some Jacobite, many years after they were both dead, invented a stor
- 102 [Footnote 234: Avaux July 27/Aug 6. 1689.][Footnote 235: King's State of the Protestants in Ireland, iii. 19.][Footnote 236: Ibid. iii. 15.][Footnote 237: Leslie's Answer to King.][Footnote 238: "En comparazion de lo que se hace in Irlanda
- 101 [Footnote 187: Pusignan to Avaux March 30/April 9 1689.][Footnote 188: This lamentable account of the Irish beer is taken from a despatch which Desgrigny wrote from Cork to Louvois, and which is in the archives of the French War Office.][Footnote 189: Ava
- 100 [Footnote 142: The Orange Gazette, Jan. 10 1688/9.][Footnote 143: Memoires de Madame de la Fayette.][Footnote 144: Burnet, i. 808; Life of James, ii. 320.; Commons'Journals, July 29. 1689.][Footnote 145: Avaux to Lewis, Mar 25/April 4 1659.][Footnote
- 99 [Footnote 103: The sermon deserves to be read. See the London Gazette of April 14. 1689; Evelyn's Diary; Narcissus Luttrell's Diary; and the despatch of the Dutch Amba.s.sadors to the States General.][Footnote 104: A specimen of the prose which
- 98 says Ronquillo. "Il est absolument mal propre pour le role qu'il a a jouer a l'heure qu'il est," says Avaux. "Slothful and sickly," says Evelyn. March 29. 1689.][Footnote 61: See Harris's description of Loo, 1699.][
- 97 3., and Boyer's History of William, 1702. Narcissus Luttrell repeatedly, and even as late as the close of 1692, speaks of Nottingham as likely to be Chancellor.][Footnote 22: Roger North relates an amusing story about Shaftesbury's embarra.s.sme
- 96 Though the royal word seemed to be pledged to this unfortunate man, the Commons resolved, by a hundred and nineteen votes to a hundred and twelve, that his property should not be exempted from the general confiscation.The bill went up to the Peers, but th
- 95 This event put an end to all thoughts of civil war. The gathering which had been planned for the summer never took place. Lochiel, even if he had been willing, was not able to sustain any longer the falling cause.He had been laid on his bed by a mishap wh
- 94 The outcry against those who were, with good reason, suspected of having invited the enemy to make a descent on our sh.o.r.es was vehement and general, and was swollen by many voices which had recently been loud in clamour against the government of Willia
- 93 Walker, notwithstanding his advanced age and his peaceful profession, accompanied the men of Londonderry, and tried to animate their zeal by exhortation and by example. He was now a great prelate. Ezekiel Hopkins had taken refuge from Popish persecutors a
- 92 But, before the King set out for Ireland, he spoke seriously to Rochester. "Your brother has been plotting against me. I am sure of it.I have the proofs under his own hand. I was urged to leave him out of the Act of Grace; but I would not do what wou
- 91 The severity of this last provision was generally and most justly blamed. To turn every ignorant meddling magistrate into a state inquisitor, to insist that a plain man, who lived peaceably, who obeyed the laws, who paid his taxes, who had never held and
- 90 The King meanwhile was making, in almost every department of the executive government, a change corresponding to the change which the general election was making in the composition of the legislature.Still, however, he did not think of forming what is now
- 89 More than once he had been invited by the enemies of the House of Stuart to leave his asylum, to become their captain, and to give the signal for rebellion: but he had wisely refused to take any part in the desperate enterprises which the Wildmans and Fer
- 88 It mattered little, however, whether the recommendations of the Commission were good or bad. They were all doomed before they were known. The writs summoning the Convocation of the province of Canterbury had been issued; and the clergy were every where in
- 87 The testimony which Waldeck in his despatch bore to the gallant conduct of the islanders was read with delight by their countrymen. The fight indeed was no more than a skirmish: but it was a sharp and b.l.o.o.d.y skirmish. There had within living memory b
- 86 The fall of this man, once so great and so much dreaded, the horror with which he was regarded by all the respectable members of his own party, the manner in which the least respectable members of that party renounced fellows.h.i.+p with him in his distre
- 85 His place was supplied by Captain Munro, and the contest went on with undiminished fury. A party of the Cameronians sallied forth, set fire to the houses from which the fatal shots had come, and turned the keys in the doors. In one single dwelling sixteen
- 84 While they were waiting for some indication of his wishes, they were called to arms at once by two leaders, either of whom might, with some show of reason, claim to be considered as the representative of the absent chief. Lord Murray, the Marquess's
- 83 The Macleans remembered that, only fourteen years before, their lands had been invaded and the seat of their chief taken and garrisoned by the Campbells, [327] Even before William and Mary had been proclaimed at Edinburgh, a Maclean, deputed doubtless by
- 82 The Monday came. The Jacobite lords and gentlemen were actually taking horse for Stirling, when Athol asked for a delay of twenty-four hours.He had no personal reason to be in haste. By staying he ran no risk of being a.s.sa.s.sinated. By going he incurre
- 81 William saw that he must not think of paying to the laws of Scotland that scrupulous respect which he had wisely and righteously paid to the laws of England. It was absolutely necessary that he should determine by his own authority how that Convention whi
- 80 That James would give his a.s.sent to a bill which took from him the power of pardoning, seemed to many persons impossible. He had, four years before, quarrelled with the most loyal of parliaments rather than cede a prerogative which did not belong to him
- 79 Lundy, therefore, from the time when the Irish army entered Ulster, seems to have given up all thought of serious resistance, He talked so despondingly that the citizens and his own soldiers murmured against him. He seemed, they said, to be bent on discou
- 78 Meanwhile Mountjoy and Rice had arrived in France. Mountjoy was instantly put under arrest and thrown into the Bastile. James determined to comply with the invitation which Rice had brought, and applied to Lewis for the help of a French army. But Lewis, t
- 77 Others had been servants to Protestants; and the Protestants added, with bitter scorn, that it was fortunate for the country when this was the case; for that a menial who had cleaned the plate and rubbed down the horse of an English gentleman might pa.s.s
- 76 Just at the moment when the question of the Test and the question of the Comprehension became complicated together in a manner which might well perplex an enlightened and honest politician, both questions became complicated with a third question of grave
- 75 There was indeed one department of which the business was well conducted; and that was the department of Foreign Affairs. There William directed every thing, and, on important occasions, neither asked the advice nor employed the agency of any English poli
- 74 The History of England from the Accession of James II.by Thomas Babington Macaulay.Volume 3.CHAPTER XI William and Mary proclaimed in London--Rejoicings throughout England; Rejoicings in Holland--Discontent of the Clergy and of the Army--Reaction of Publi
- 73 [Footnote 669: Commons Journals, Feb, 2. 1683.] [Footnote 670: Greys Debates; Burnet, i. 822.] [Footnote 671: Commons Journals, Feb. 4. 8. 11, 12.; Lords Journals, Feb. 9. 11. 12, 1688/9] [Footnote 672: London Gazette, Feb. 14. 1688/9; Citters, Feb. 12/22
- 72 [Footnote 626: Albeville to Preston, Nov 23/Dec 3 1688, in the Mackintosh Collection.][Footnote 627: "'Tis hier nu Hosanna: maar 't zal, veelligt, haast Kruist hem kruist hem, zyn." Witsen, MS. in Wagenaar, book lxi. It is an odd coinc