parted the design to his court, and had been instructed to assure Tyrconnel that France would lend effectual aid to the accomplishment of this great project. These transactions, which, though perhaps not in all parts accurately known at the Hague, were strongly suspected there, must not be left out of the account if we would pass a just judgment on the course taken a few months later by the Princess of Orange. Those who pronounce her guilty of a breach of filial duty must admit that her fault was at least greatly extenuated by her wrongs. If, to serve the cause of her religion, she broke through the most sacred ties of consanguinity, she only followed her father's example. She did not assist to depose him till he had conspired to disinherit her. Scarcely had Bonrepaux been informed that Louis had resolved to assist the enterprise of Tyrconnel, when all thoughts of that enterprise were abandoned. James had caught the first glimpse of a hope which delighted and elated him. The queen was with child. Before the end of October, 1687, the great news began to be whispered. It was observed that her majesty had absented herself from some public ceremonies on the plea of indisposition. It was said that many relics, supposed to possess extraordinary virtue, had been hung about her. Soon the story made its way from the palace to the coffeehouses of the capital, and spread fast over the country. By a very small minority the rumor was welcomed with joy. The great body of the nation listened with mingled Aug. 25 Bonrepaux to Seignelay,- 1687. I will quote a few words from this most remarkable dispatch: "Je sçay bien certainement que l'intention du Roy d'Angleterre est de faire perdre ce royaume (Ireland) à son successeur, et de le fortifier en sorte que tous ses sujets Catholiques y puissent avoir un asile assuré. Son projet est de mettre les choses en cet estat dans le cours de cinq années." In the Secret Consults of the Romish party in Ireland, printed in 1690, there is a passage which shows that this negotiation had not been kept strictly secret. "Though the king kept it private from most of his council, yet certain it is that he had promised the French king the disposal of that government and kingdom when things had attained to that growth as to be fit to bear it." derision and fear. There was, indeed, nothing very extraordinary in what had happened. The king had but The queen was in just completed his fifty-fourth year. the summer of life. She had already borne four children who had died young; and long afterward she was deliv ered of another child whom nobody had any interest in treating as supposititious, and who was therefore never Isaid to be so. As, however, five years had elapsed since her last pregnancy, the people, under the influence of that delusion which leads men to believe what they wish, had ceased to entertain any apprehension that she would give an heir to the throne. On the other hand, nothing seemed more natural and probable than that the Jesuits should have contrived a pious fraud. It was certain that they must consider the accession of the Princess of Orange as one of the greatest calamities which could befall their Church. It was equally certain that they would not be very scrupulous about doing whatever might be necessary to save their Church from a great calamity. In books written by eminent members of the society, and licensed by its rulers, it was distinctly laid down that means even more shocking to all notions of justice and humanity than the introduction of a spurious heir into a family might lawfully be employed for ends less important than the conversion of a heretical kingdom. It had got abroad that some of the king's advisers, and even the king himself, had meditated schemes for defrauding the Lady Mary, either wholly or in part, of her rightful inheritance. A suspicion, not, indeed, well founded, but by no means so absurd as is commonly supposed, took possession of the public The folly of some Roman Catholics confirmed the vulgar prejudice. They spoke of the auspicious event as strange, as miraculous, as an exertion of the same Divine power which had made Sarah proud and happy in Isaac, and had given Samuel to the prayers of Hannah. Mary's mother, the Duchess of Modena, had lately died. A short time before her death she had, it was said, implored the Virgin of Loretto, with fervent vows and rich offerings, to mind. bestow a son on James. The king himself had, in the preceding August, turned aside from his progress to visit the Holy Well, and had there besought Saint Winifred to obtain for him that boon without which his great designs for the propagation of the true faith could be but imperfectly executed. The imprudent zealots who dwelt on these tales foretold with confidence that the unborn infant would be a boy, and offered to back their opinion by laying twenty guineas to one. Heaven, they affirmed, would not have interfered but for a great end. One fanatic announced that the queen would give birth to twins, of whom the elder would be King of England, and the younger Pope of Rome. Mary could not conceal the delight with which she heard this prophecy; and her ladies found that they could not gratify her more than by talking of it. The Roman Catholics would have acted more wisely if they had spoken of the pregnancy as of a natural event, and if they had borne with moderation their unexpected good fortune. Their insolent triumph excited the popular suspicions. From the Prince and Princess of Denmark down to porters and laundresses, nobody alluded to the promised birth without a sneer. The wits of London described the new miracle in rhymes which, it may well be supposed, were not the most delicate. The rough country squires roared with laughter if they met any one simple enough to believe that the queen was really likely to be again a mother. A royal proclamation appeared, commanding the clergy to read a form of prayer and thanksgiving which had been prepared for this joyful occasion by Crewe and Sprat. The clergy obeyed; but it was observed that the congregations made no responses, and showed no signs of reverence. Soon, in all the coffee-houses, was handed about a brutal lampoon on the courtly prelates whose pens the king had employed. Mother East had also her full share of abuse. Into that homely monosyllable our ancestors had degraded the name of the great house of Este which reigned at Modena.* 1687; the Princess Anne to the Princess of Orange, The new hope which elated the king's spirits was mingled with many fears. Something more than the birth of a Prince of Wales was necessary to the success of the plans formed by the Jesuitical party. It was not very likely that James would live till his son should be of age to exercise the regal functions. The law had made no provision for the case of a minority. The reigning sovereign was not competent to make provision for such a case by will. The Legislature only could supply the defect. If James should die before the defect had been supplied, leaving a successor of tender years, the supreme power would undoubtedly devolve on Protestants. Those Tories who held most firmly the doctrine that nothing could justify them in resisting their liege lord, would have no scruple about drawing their swords against a popish woman who should dare to usurp the guardianship of the realm and of the infant sovereign. The result of a contest could scarcely be matter of doubt. The Prince of Orange, or his wife, would be regent. The young king would be placed in the hands of heretical instructors, whose arts might speedily efface from his mind the impressions which might have been made on it in the nursery. He might prove another Edward the Sixth; and the blessing granted to the intercession of the Virgin Mother and of St. Winifred might be turned into a curse.* This was a danger against which nothing but an act of Parliament could be a security; and to obtain such an act was not easy. Every thing seemed to indicate that, if the houses were convoked, they would come up to Westminster animated by March 14 and 20, 1687; Barillon, Dec., 1687; Revolution Politics; the song "Two Toms and a Nat." Johnstone, April 4, 1688; Secret Consults of the Romish Party in Ireland, 1690. * The king's uneasiness on this subject is strongly described by Ronquillo, Dec. 12, 1688: Un Principe de Vales y un Duque de York y otro di Lochaosterna (Lancaster, I suppose), no bastan á reducir la gente; porque el Rey tiene 54 años, y vendrá á morir, dejando los hijos pequeños, y que entonces el reyno se apoderará dellos, y los nombrará tutor, y los educará en la religion Protestante, contra la disposicion que dejare el Rey, y la autoridad de la Reyna." the spirit of 1640. The event of the county elections could hardly be doubted. The whole body of freeholders, high and low, clerical and lay, was strongly excited against the government. In the great majority of those towns where the right of voting depended on the payment of local taxes, or on the occupation of a tenement, no courtly candidate could dare to show his face. A very large part of the House of Commons was returned by members of municipal corporations. These corporations had recently been remodeled for the purpose of destroying the influence of the Whigs and Dissenters. More than a hundred boroughs had been deprived of their charters by tribunals devoted to the crown, or had been induced to avert compulsory disfranchisement by voluntary surrender. Every mayor, every alderman, every town clerk, from Berwick to Helston, was a Tory and a Churchman; but Tories and Churchmen were now no longer devoted to the sovereign. The new municipalities were more unmanageable than the old municipalities had ever been, and would undoubtedly return representatives whose first act would be to impeach all the popish privy counselors, and all the members of the High Commission. In the Lords the prospect was scarcely less gloomy than in the Commons. Among the temporal peers it was certain that an immense majority would be against the king's measures; and on that episcopal bench, which seven years before had unanimously supported him against those who had attempted to deprive him of his birthright, he could now look for support only to four or five sycophants despised by their profession and by their country.* To all men not utterly blinded by passion, these difficulties appeared insuperable. The most unscrupulous Three lists framed at this time are extant, one in the French archives, the other two in the archives of the Portland family. In these lists every peer is entered under one of three heads, For the Repeal of the Test, Against the Repeal, and Doubtful. According to one list the numbers were, 31 for, 86 against, and 20 doubtful; according to another, 33 for, 87 against, and 19 doubtful; according to the third, 35 for, 92 against, and 10 doubtful. Copies of the three lists are in the Mackintosh MSS. |