beth, and reaching Gravesend by land, embarked in a yacht for Calais. Professing doubts of the intentions of William, the king on the day following attempted to withdraw from the kingdom. He first destroyed the writs for the new parliament with his own hand, and in crossing to Vauxhall threw the great seal into the river. In disguise, the king posted to Faversham, and embarked on board a custom-house hoy, but was stopped by some boats on the look out for fugitives. At first, he was taken to be Father Petre; when he landed he was recognised, and rescued from the hands of the mob by Lord Winchelsea; for his safety the king was put under a strong guard.

The reign of James is held to have terminated on the 11th of December, the day when he left London; the Interregnum is therefore taken to extend from Dec. 11 to Feb. 13, being a period of two months.

SECTION VI. THE INTERREGNUM.

DEC. 11, 1688-FEB. 13, 1689.

1. The Riots in London. Dec. 12, 1688. No sooner was it known that the king had fled than general commotion prevailed. The capital was left without government, the peers therefore met at Guildhall, to provide for the public safety. Sancroft presided, and it was determined that till the Prince arrived, they should take upon themselves the preservation of order. Possession was taken of the Tower, and Dartmouth ordered to discharge all popish officers from the fleet. When night came, thousands of the mob, encouraged partly by respectable citizens, gutted the Roman Catholic chapels and religious houses, the king's printing offices where popish books had been printed, and some of the mansions of the foreign ambassadors. Jeffreys in alarm, disguised himself as a seaman engaged in the coal trade, but was discovered, and saved from being torn in pieces by the mob, only by the intervention of the trained bands. To secure him against popular vengeance he was conveyed to the Tower under military escort. On the night of the 13th, an alarm was raised that the disbanded Irish soldiers were marching on London, and massacreing all they met. Twenty thousand men turned out armed, but the intense fright of the "Irish Night", as it was called, proved to have been without cause.

2. James's second flight from Rochester. Dec, 22, 1588. On the morning of the 14th, the arrest of James was communicated to the peers, upon which Faversham was ordered to take two hundred life-guards to protect the king from insult. With this force, the king resolved on returning to the capital. Faversham was sent off to William to invite him to a personal

conference in London, the messsage was delivered, but the bearer was arrested for coming in without a passport. James went from Rochester to Whitehall, and as if to show the fickleness of popular feeling, he was greeted with cheers, ringing of bells, and in the evening with bonfires. Zulestein was the bearer of a message from the Prince, requesting the king not to advance from Rochester; this was too late, as the king was already in London. The return of James perplexed the designs of William. It was most desirable for the interests of the latter, that the king. should withdraw. To alarm his fears, the Dutch guards took possession of Whitehall, and the three commissioners informed him, that for the tranquillity of the capital, he must remove to Ham in Surrey. At his own request, he was permitted to choose Rochester in preference to Ham. James passed to Gravesend in the royal barge, and thence to Rochester, from which place he had no difficulty in effecting his escape, in company with the Duke of Berwick and three other persons, In two days, he landed at Ambleteuse and proceeded to St. Germains.

3. The Prince of Orange advised to call a Convention. Dec. 1688. When it was known that the king had fled from London, the peers, as before related, met and charged themselves with the preservation of order, and when the Prince of Orange arrived in the metropolis, they continued their sittings by request. It was found, however, that the majority of them was for holding the Prince to the letter of his declaration; to obviate what might prove a difficulty, it was proposed to take the advice of the people, as well as that of the peers. A notice was therefore issued, inviting the members who had sat in the Commons during the reign of Charles II. to attend for this purpose. The lord mayor and aldermen of London were also invited, together with fifty citizens as a deputation from the common council. These several parties were to meet at St. James's to advise the Prince, "as to the best manner how to pursue the ends of his declaration". In the House of Peers, Lord Paget and others proposed that William and Mary should be declared king and queen forthwith; this was opposed by Pembroke and Nottingham, who supported the claims of James. The Commons met Dec. 26th. The Lords first and afterwards the Commons agreed to request the Prince to charge himself with the government for the present, and to issue writs for the meeting of a Convention.

4. The Convention Parliament meets: Act of Settlement. The Convention met Jan. 22, 1689, and after settling some preliminary business, the Commons resolved themselves into a Committee of the whole House, with Richard Hampden in the chair, to consider of the settlement of the nation. Two-thirds of

the members were of the Whig party, so that the following resolutions passed without difficulty: 1. "That King James II. having endeavoured to subvert the constitution of the kingdom by breaking the original compact between king and people, and by the advice of Jesuits and other wicked persons having violated the fundamental laws, and having withdrawn himself out of the kingdom, had abdicated the government, and that the throne had thereby become vacant." 2. "That experience had shown it to be inconsistent with the safety and welfare of the protestant religion, to be governed by a popish prince."

66

In the peers, the parties were more evenly balanced, but the Tories were weakened by dissension, one part being for the recalling of James on conditions, and the other for entrusting the powers of government to a regency, 'during the life of the said king James". A regency was advocated by Nottingham, Clarendon, and Rochester, and opposed by Halifax and Danby. Sancroft's regency scheme was lost by a majority only of two. The resolution of the Commons declaring the throne vacant was next discussed. The first debate was on the clause which recognised an "original compact between king and people," the words were permitted to stand by a majority of seven votes. Another debate followed on the word "abdicated"; without a division, it was agreed that the word "deserted" should be substituted. The next question to be decided was-whether the throne was now vacant, in consequence of the desertion by James? A majority of fourteen declared the throne was not vacant. This decision infused new hopes into the Tories, which however were soon blighted, for a motion made in the Commons to agree to the amendment of the Lords, was lost by a majority of a hundred and thirty-one votes. William up to this point had not attempted any interference with the proceedings of the Convention; now he sent for Halifax, Danby, Shrewsbury, and other political chiefs, and explained to them that without wishing to dictate to the Convention, he thought it was his duty to say that he would not consent to be a Regent, neither would he agree to share the government with his wife during her life time.

As the two Houses had voted opposite views, conferences were held, though without concession on either side. When after the last conference, the Lords returned to their own House, the effect of William's explicit declaration to the political leaders was manifest. Some professed to fear popular disturbances, and others that William would seize the crown if it were not granted to him. The question whether the throne was vacant was therefore now carried by a majority of fifteen votes, and it was further carried without a division, Feb. 2, that the Prince and Princess

of Orange be declared King and Queen of England. At the same time, Nottingham proposed for the sake of scrupulous consciences, that in the oaths of allegiance and supremacy, the words "rightful and lawful", which referred, as was contended, to a pre-existing title, should be omitted as not applicable to sovereigns succeeding to the crown in opposition to law and right. The words were accordingly omitted, but advantage was taken of the omission by a party who held "that according to the oath, William and Mary were king and queen not de jure but de facto only".

THE ACT OF SETTLEMENT. 1689. "And for preventing all questions and divisions in this realm, by reason of any pretended titles to the crown, and for preserving a certainty in the succession thereof, in and upon which the unity, peace, tranquillity, and safety of this nation doth, under God, wholly consist and depend, the said lords spiritual and temporal, and commons, do beseech their majesties [William and Mary] that it may be enacted, established, and declared, that the crown and regal government of the said kingdoms and dominions, with all and singular the premises thereunto belonging and appertaining, shall be and continue to their said majesties, and the survivor of them, during their lives, and the life of the survivor of them: and that the intire, perfect, and full exercise of the regal power and government be only in and exercised by his majesty, in the names of both their majesties during their joint lives; and after their decease the said crown and premises shall be and remain to the heirs of the body of her majesty; and for default of such issue to her royal highness the Princess Anne of Denmark and the heirs of her body; and for default of such issue to the heirs of the body of his said majesty: and thereunto the said lords spiritual and temporal and commons do, in the name of all the people aforesaid, most humbly and faithfully submit themselves, their heirs and posterities for ever: and do faithfully promise that that they will stand to, maintain, and defend their said majesties, and also the limitation and succession of the crown herein specified and contained, to the utmost of their powers, with their lives and estates, against all persons whatsoever, that shall attempt anything to the contrary.

"And whereas it hath been found by experience, that it is inconsistent with the safety and welfare of this protestant kingdom, to be governed by a popish prince, or by any king or queen marrying a papist; the said lords spiritual and temporal, and commons, do further pray that it may be enacted, that all and every person and persons that is, are, or shall be reconciled to, or shall hold communion with the see or church of Rome, or shall profess the popish religion, or shall marry a papist, shall be excluded, and be for ever incapable to inherit, possess, or enjoy the crown and government of this realm and Ireland, and the dominions thereunto belonging, or any part of the same, or to have, use, or exercise any regal power, authority, or jurisdiction within the same; and in all and every such case or cases the people of these realms shall be and are hereby absolved of their allegiance; and the said crown and government shall from time to time descend to, and be enjoyed by such person or persons, being protestants, as should have inherited and enjoyed the same in case

the said person or persons so reconciled, holding communion, or professing, or marrying as aforesaid, were naturally dead."

5. The Convention Parliament passes the Declaration of Rights. Feb. 12, 1689. A question was started in the Commons with respect to the provision which ought to be made to protect the subjects of this kingdom from, the oppression of the crown. The crown, it was said, was now to be disposed of, and it ought only to be granted on conditions. A committee, with the celebrated Somers, then a young barrister, as chairman, was appointed, to frame such conditions. The report of the committee recommended the solemn assertion of those great principles which had been violated by the late king, and that new laws be enacted to curb the prerogative and purify the administration of justice. William took offence at this movement, and various reasons were urged why the Commons should not lose time in discussing questions, which did not lie within the province of a Convention. It was therefore resolved to leave the making of new laws to be done by the succeeding parliament, and proceed only with the assertion of fundamental rights. A document was therefore drawn enumerating the grievances endured by the nation, during the reign of the late king James II. and making a formal statement and demand of the ancient rights and liberties of the nation. To this after some amendments, the Lords agreed. It was then prefixed to the Act of Settlement and publicly accepted by the Prince and Princess of Orange, in the palace at Whitehall, Feb. 13, 1689. The English Revolution was now completed by the proclamation of William and Mary, as king and queen, at the gate of the Palace, Temple-bar, Cheapside, and the Royal Exchange.

This Declaration of Rights was simply declarative of what was the spirit of our old constitutional law, as it had been repeatedly recognised. The Declaration was passed in due form towards the latter end of the year, from which time it is known as the Bill of Rights. By this act it is declared :

"1. That the pretended power of suspending of laws, or the execution of laws, by royal authority, without consent of parliament, is illegal. 2. That the pretended power of dispensing with laws, or the execution of laws, by regal authority, as it hath been assumed and exercised of late, is illegal. 3. That the commission for erecting the late court of commissioners for ecclesiastical causes, and all other commissions and courts of like nature, are illegal and pernicious. 4. That levying money for or to the use of the crown by pretence of prerogative, without grant of parliament, for longer time, or in other manner, than the same is or shall be granted, is illegal. 5. That it is the right of the subjects to petition the king; and all commitments and prosecutions for such petitioning are illegal. 6. That the raising