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the people to join his standard, assuring them that his master had no other design in ordering his troops to invade France, but that of restoring the noblesse to theirancient splendour, their parliaments to their former authority, and the people to their just privileges. He even offered his protection to the clergy, and promised to use his endeavours for reviving the edict of Nantes, which had been guaranteed by the kings of England. These offers, however, produced little effect: and the Germans ravaged the whole country, in revenge for the cruelties which the French had committed in the palatinate. The allied army advanced from Ambrun to Gap, on the frontiers of Provence, and this place submitted without opposition. The inhabitants of Grenoble, the capital of Dauphiné, and even of Lyons, were overwhelmed with consternation; and a fairer opportunity of humbling France could never occur, as that part of the kingdom had been left almost quite defenceless but this was fatally neglected, either from the spirit of dissension which began to prevail in the allied army, or from the indisposition of the duke of Savoy, who was seized with the small-pox in the midst of this expedition; or, lastly, from his want of sincerity, which was shrewdly suspected. He is said to have maintained. a constant correspondence with the court of Versailles, in complaisance to which he retarded the operations of the confederates. Certain it is, he evacuated all his conquests, and about the middle of September quitted the French territories, after having pillaged and laid waste the country through which he had penetrated.TM In Catalonia the French attempted nothing of importance during this campaign, and the Spaniards were wholly inactive in that province.

§ XXXVII. The Protestant interest in Germany ac

m At this period queen Mary, understanding that the Protestant Vaudois were destitute of ministers to preach or teach the gospel, established a fund from her own privy-purse, to maintain ten preachers, and as many schoolmasters, in the valleys of Piedmont.

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quired an accession of strength, by the creation of a ninth electorate in favour of Ernest Augustus, duke of Hanover. He had, by this time, renounced all his connexions with France, and engaged to enter heartily into the interest of the allies, in consideration of his obtaining the electoral dignity. King William exerted himself so vigorously in his behalf at the court of Vienna, that the emperor agreed to the proposal, in case the consent of the other electors could be procured. This assent, however, was extorted by the importunities of the king of England, whom he durst not disoblige. Leopold was blindly bigoted to the religion of Rome, and consequently averse to a new creation, that would weaken the Catholic interest in the electoral college. He therefore employed his emissaries to thwart the duke's measures. Some Protestant princes opposed him from motives of jealousy, and the French king used all his artifice and influence, to prevent the elevation of the house of Hanover. When the duke had surmounted all this opposition, so far as to gain over a majority of the electors, new objections were started. The emperor suggested that another popish electorate should be created, to balance the advantage which the Lutherans would reap from that of Hanover; and he proposed that Austria should be raised to the same dignity: but violent opposition was made to this expedient, which would have vested the emperor with a double vote in the electoral college. At length, after a tedious negotiation, the duke of Hanover, on the 19th day of December, was honoured with the investiture, as elector of Brunswick; created great-marshal of the empire, and did homage to the emperor : nevertheless, he was not yet admitted into the college, because he had not been able to procure the unanimous consent of all the electors."

In the beginning of September the shock of an earthquake was felt in London and many other parts of England, as well as in France, Germany, and the Netherlands. Violent agitations of the same kind had happened about two months before in Sicily and Malta; and the town of Port-Royal in Jamaica was almost totally ruined by an earthquake; the place was so suddenly overflowed, that about fifteen hundred persons perished.

CHAP. IV.

I. False information against the earl of Marlborough, the bishop of Rochester, and others-§ II. Sources of national discontent§ III. Dissension between the queen and the princess Anne of Denmark-§ IV. The house of lords vindicate their privileges in behalf of their imprisoned members-§ V. The commons present addresses to the king and queen—§ VI. They acquit admiral Russel, and resolve to advise his majesty-§ VII. They comply with all the demands of the ministry-§ VIII. The lords present an address of advice to the king-§ IX. Dispute between the lords and commons concerning admiral Russel—§ X. The commons address the king. They establish the land-tax and other impositions-§ XI. Burnet's pastoral letter burned by the hangman-§ XII. Proceedings of the lower house against the practice of kidnapping men for the service-§ XIII. The two houses address the king on the grievances of Ireland—§ XIV. An account of the place bill, and that for triennial parliaments—§ XV. The commons petition his majesty that he would dissolve the East India company-§ XVI. Trial of lord Mohun for murder. Alterations in the ministry-§ XVII. The king repairs to the continent, and assembles the confederate army in Flanders—§ XVIII. The French reduce Huy-§ XIX. Luxembourg resolves to attack the allies-§ XX. Who are defeated at Landen-§ XXI. Charleroy is besieged and taken by the enemy-§ XXII. Campaign on the Rhine. The duke of Savoy is defeated by Catinat in the plain of Marsaglia-§ XXIII. Transactions in Hungary and Catalonia-XXIV. Naval affairs-§ XXV. A fleet of merchant ships, under convoy of sir George Rooke, attacked, and partly destroyed, by the French squadrons-§ XXVI. Wheeler's expedition to the West Indies-§ XXVII. Benbow bombards St. Maloes- XXVIII. The French king has recourse to the mediation of Denmark-§ XXIX. Severity of the government against the Jacobites-§ XXX. Complaisance of the Scottish parliament -§ XXXI. The king returns to England, makes some changes in the ministry, and opens the session of parliament-§ XXXII. Both houses inquire into the miscarriages by sea-§ XXXIII. The commons grant a vast sum for the services of the ensuing year§ XXXIV. The king rejects the bill against free and impartial proceedings in parliament; and the lower house remonstrates on this subject-§ XXXV. Establishment of the bank of England— § XXXVI. The East India company obtain a new charter§ XXXVII. Bill for a general naturalization dropped-§ XXXVIII.

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Sir Francis Wheeler perishes in a storm-§ XXXIX. The English attempt to make a descent in Carmaret-bay, but are repulsed with loss—§ XL. They bombard Dieppe, Havre-de-Grace, Dunkirk, and Calais-§ XLI. Admiral Russel sails for the Mediterranean, relieves Barcelona, and winters at Cadiz-§ XLII. Campaign in Flanders--§ XLIII. The allies reduce Huy-§ XLIV. The prince of Baden passes the Rhine, but is obliged to repass that river. Operations in Hungary-§ XLV. Progress of the French in Catalonia. State of the war in Piedmont-§ XLVI. The king returns to England. The parliament meets. The bill for triennial parliaments receives the royal assent-§ XLVII. Death of archbishop Tillotson and of queen Mary-§ XLVIII. Reconciliation between the king and the princess of Denmark.

§ I. WHILE king William seemed wholly engrossed by the affairs of the continent, England was distracted by domestic dissension, and overspread with vice, corruption, and profaneness. Over and above the Jacobites, there was a set of malecontents, whose number daily increased. They not only murmured at the grievances of the nation, but composed and published elaborate dissertations upon the same subject. These made such impressions upon the people, already irritated by heavy burdens, distressed in their trade, and disappointed in their sanguine expectations, that the queen thought it necessary to check the progress of those writers, by issuing out a proclamation, offering a reward to such as would discover seditious libellers. The earl of Marlborough had been committed to the Tower, on the information of one Robert Young, a prisoner in Newgate, who had forged that nobleman's hand-writing, and contrived the scheme of an association in favour of king James, to which he affixed the names of the earls of Marlborough and Salisbury, Sprat, bishop of Rochester, the lord Cornbury, and sir Basil Firebrace. One of his emissaries had found means to conceal this paper in a certain part of the bishop's house at Bromley in Kent, where it was found by the king's messengers, who secured the prelate in consequence of Young's information.

But he vindicated himself to the satisfaction of the whole council; and the forgery of the informer was detected by the confession of his accomplice. The bishop obtained his release immediately, and the earl of Marlborough was admitted to bail in the court of king's bench.

§ II. So many persons of character and distinction had been imprisoned during this reign, upon the slightest suspicion, that the discontented part of the nation had some reason to insinuate, they had only exchanged one tyrant for another. They affirmed, that the habeas corpus act was either insufficient to protect the subject from false imprisonment, or had been shamefully misused. They expatiated upon the loss of ships, which had lately fallen a prey to the enemy; the consumption of seamen; the neglect of the fisheries; the interruption of commerce, in which the nation was supplanted by her allies, as well as invaded by her enemies; the low ebb of the kingdom's treasure, exhausted in hiring foreign bottoms, and paying foreign troops to fight foreign quarrels; and the slaughter of the best and bravest of their countrymen, whose blood had been lavishly spilt in support of connexions with which they ought to have had no concern. They demonstrated the mischiefs that necessarily arose from the unsettled state of the nation. They observed, that the government could not be duly established, until a solemn declaration should confirm the legality of that tenure by which their majesties possessed the throne; that the structure of parliaments was deficient in point of solidity, as they existed entirely at the pleasure of the crown, which would use them no longer than they should be found necessary in raising supplies for the use of the government. They exclaimed against the practice of quartering soldiers in private houses, contrary to the ancient laws of the land, the petition of rights, and the subsequent act on that subject, passed in the reign of the second Charles. They enu

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