When chosen.

Henry Powle (or Powell), Esq. Speaker of the Convention*,

or REVOLUTION PARLIAMENT

1688

verdict of "Not Guilty:" which defeat of a most tyrannous prosecution gave great joy to the people at large, and was received with three cheers by the army. Sir Richard Holloway and Sir John Powell, justices of the King's Bench, were now displaced, for giving their opinions against the Court in favour of the seven Bishops. A thanksgiving for the birth of the Prince of Wales, on the 10th of June, was observed in the Cities of London and Westminster. Immediately after which the Prince of Orange published a Declaration, with his reasons for an intended expedition to England, viz. to facilitate the calling a free Parliament, and to inquire into the birth of the Prince of Wales, who was alledged to have been spuriously palmed on the public as the son of the King and Queen, although the son of other parents. The principal witness or author of this sham plot was afterwards (in 1691), voted by the Commons to be "a notorious cheat, impostor, and false accuser." On the news of the intended invasion, the King of France offered to send King James 30,000 men, since his own forces could not be depended on; but his Majesty was advised to refuse them.-He now proceeded to restore the charter of London. And having desired the advice of the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Lord Bishop of London, and their brethren about town, nine of the Bishops attended his Majesty with ten articles or propositions, as the best means to restore his affairs: the chief of which were, "that his Majesty would suffer the law to take its course, and call a Parliament." Whereupon he dissolved the Commission for Causes Ecclesiastical, displaced the Popish magistrates, put Protestants in their places, and published a Proclamation for restoring to the Corporations their ancient charters, liberties, rights, and franchises. But these concessions came too late. The Prince of Orange, landing at Torbay on the 5th of November, 1688, arrived at Exeter on the 8th; where an association was signed by the gentlemen, who joined him, to assist and defend his Highness; and the Duke of Grafton, Lord Churchill, with several other persons of quality, and a large body of troops, deserted his Majesty at Salisbury. Whereupon the King returned to Whitehall, where he found the Princess Anne had gone away the night before, after Prince George her husband. The Queen and infant Prince were now sent over to France, and the King himself soon afterwards embarked for the same country.

The Convention Parliament was that convention of the Lords and Commons who met at Whitchall, on the abdication of King James II., to settle the Prince of Orange on the throne. This was in fact no Parliament, being without royal or even popular authority, and being composed merely of some persons who had been in the previous Parliament, with others who had never been members of either House. The objects for which this meeting took place, happened to be successful; otherwise the members who composed it were liable to trial and punishment for treason against the reigning Sovereign. In order to screen them from such dangerous consequences, should the King or his son ever recover their rights, an Act of Indemnity was passed in the next session of Parliament, including every person who had been present at the above meeting.-See two Protests of the Lords in the Appendix to this volume.

The Prince of Orange receiving intelligence of the King's departure, published a Declaration, "requiring all those, who had served as Members in any of the Parliaments held in the reign of King Charles II. to meet him at St. James's the 26th of December, together with the Aldermen and Common-Council of London"!!! Soon afterwards, the Lords spiritual and temporal advised him to write circular letters to the several Counties, Universities, Cities and Boroughs, to send Members to meet at Westminster on the 22d of January. In the mean time they authorized him to take upon himself the administration of public affairs, both civil and military, and the disposal of the public revenue, till the said meeting of a second Convention. Accordingly, on the 22d of January, 1689, this Convention being assembled, the

He was expelled the Chair and House, for having taken a bribe of one thousand guineas from the City of London, to promote the passing of the Act for establishing what is called the "Orphan's Fund." It appeared afterwards, that he had made a regular practice of disposing of his influence for money. Nor was he at all singular in this respect, during the venal times in which

Marquess of Halifax was chosen Speaker of the Upper House, and Henry Powle, Esq., of the Lower House. And the Commons immediately resolved that “King James II. having endeavoured to subvert the constitution by breaking the original contract between King and people; and, by the advice of Jesuits and other wicked persons, having violated the fundamental laws, and withdrawn himself out of the kingdom; had abdicated the government, and that the throne was thereby vacant.”— This resolution was carried up to the Lords by Mr. Hampden; but they sent it back with amendments; viz. instead of the word "abdicated" they put " deserted ;" and they omitted the words, "and the throne was thereby become vacant;"—which occasioned long and warm debates between the two Houses. But, at length, the Lords agreed to the resolution without any amendment; for the Prince of Orange not only refused to accept the Crown, unless the power as well as the name of King was conferred upon him; but insisted that the Princess (though entitled thereto by hereditary right) should have no share in the government. If they did not yield to this, he threatened to return to Holland, and to leave them to the mercy of their exasperated sovereign. This threat soon silenced all opposition and debate concerning the abdication; for they saw that William had them in a cleft stick; and they had not forgotten that notwithstanding Charles the Second's Act of Grace, previously to his recovery of the throne, the first act of his reign was to bring to trial and execution the persons who had sent his father to the block and him. self into exile. Accordingly, on the 7th of February, both Houses resolved that "William and Mary, Prince and Princess of Orange (the son-in-law and daughter of James II.) should be declared King and Queen of England, France, and Ireland, to hold to them during their lives and the life of the survivor of them, and that the sole and full exercise of the royal power be only in and executed by the said Prince of Orange, in the names of the Prince and Princess, during their joint lives; remainder to the heirs of the body of the Princess; remainder to the Princess Anne of Denmark, and the heirs of her body; remainder to the heirs of the body of the Prince of Orange." On the 13th of February a deputation of both Houses waited on the Prince and Princess at Whitehall, with the above resolution; and with a Declaration, asserting the rights and liberties of the subject; and on the same day they were proclaimed King and Queen, with the usual solemnities.-In a few days after the coronation, the Lower House, terrified at hearing that King James had landed in Ireland with troops from France, begged their new King, in an Address, to declare war against France; promising to stand by him!-Nor were the Conventionists of Scotland idle at this juncture; their deputies made a formal offer of the Scottish crown to William, in the Banqueting House, Whiteball, on the 11th of May; and he, in return, most graciously gave the Royal Assent on July 22d to a Bill for the abolition of Episcopacy in Scotland.-The Parliament of Ireland, on the other hand, being in the mean time assembled by King James, attainted all the Archbishops, seven of the Bishops, and many of the protestant nobility and gentry, of high treason.

When chosen.

he lived. Mr. Guy, and Mr. Hungerford, were ex-
pelled from the House of Commons about the same
time, for similar practices; and in an inquiry which
afterwards took place, with respect to the means by
which a renewal of the East India Company's charter
had been obtained, Sir Thomas Cooke, one of the direc-
tors, and a member of the House of Commons, confessed
that he had distributed no less a sum than 70,000l., on
behalf of the company, among the friends of certain
courtiers and Commoners! But he would not acknow-
ledge that he knew that either the ministers or the
senators themselves received any part of this sum.-Mr.
Bird, an attorney, also, was brought down upon his
knees by the Commons for bribing sundry persons
belonging to their House.-Luckily for other delin-
quents, and they were not a few,-
-an "Act of General
and Free Pardon" was passed in April, 1695; "which
was of singular comfort to all such gentlemen as were
in danger of being prosecuted for bribery, extortion,
and endeavouring to sell their country*."

On May 24, 1689, the Royal Assent was given to the
Bill, commonly called "The Toleration Act," by which
Protestant Dissenters were indemnified from the penal-
ties of the law.-In August, an Act was passed "for
Payment of the States of Holland, for all Charges of
King William's Expedition to England;" amounting
to 600,000l.-Several Members grumbled and made
speeches at this extravagant demand; and some went
even so far as to say that the gift of three Crowns so
splendid as those of England, Scotland, and Ireland,
ought to have shielded the donors from any after-
charge-but these gentlemen forgot that their creditors

* Bishop Burnet observes, "that few were preferred at this time, but WHIGS, except they purchased their places; for the WHIGS," he says, “set every thing to sale." He also relates, "that he complained to King William of the practice of the court in bribing and corrupting the Members of Parliament."-To which the King answered, "he hated it as much as any man; but saw it was not possible to avoid it, considering the corruption of the age, unless he would endanger the whole." Surely King James, with all his faults and Popery to boot, could not have done worse than this.

When chosen.

were Dutchmen ;-that they were inexorable: and they
were reminded that King William could still go back
to Holland and leave them to their fate!

In March, 1690, they granted to their Majesties, for their
lives, and the life of the survivor of them, certain duties
upon beer, ale, and other liquors; with other duties of
tonnage and poundage, &c.—In these Acts were clauses,
empowering the King to anticipate and borrow money
on his revenues, as he had desired in his speech. This
was the beginning of the DEBT, so destructive to the
NATION ever since. William's maxim was, "borrow
what you can; the more you borrow, the more friends
you
make; interest is a stronger tie than principle.”—
Accordingly the ministry gave whatever interest and
premiums happened to be demanded for the loan of
money; and naval stores and provisions were taken up
at thirty, forty, and sometimes fifty per cent. Con-
sequently, monied men, and those that could bear
Stock*, doubled and trebled their fortunes, by buying

up

debentures and government securities.

How this Anglo-Batavian Debt ever obtained the name of Stock or Funds, is truly inconceivable; seeing that its very existence is proof positive of a total want of either Stock or Funds!-But this humbug which was conceived by the Jews of Holland, and brought forth by the "Glorious and Immortal Deliverer," was sanctioned, legalized, and baptized by an English Parliament; and, such is the virtue of a name, that the inhabitants of these kingdoms have been gulled by it ever since!-King William was not so much to blame for laying the foundation of this mighty Debt; for he was accustomed to such things:-in leaving his country and his home,-in severing the ties of consanguinity and friendship,-in forsaking the scenes of his early recollections,-it is not to be supposed that he did so for the mere purpose of delivering Englishmen from Popery for which, by the by, he did not care a straw), nor even for the parricidal satisfaction of dethroning King James;-no, his purpose-like that of persons who go to the Indies-was to make his fortune; and to gratify his ambition of taking rank with the great sovereigns of Europe:-he came to shear, not to tend, the English flock; and so closely has his example been followed by his successors, that there is scarcely a fleece left.William knew a secret, of which the unhappy Charles and the shamefully ill-treated James were ignorant; - or rather, he pursued a policy which they were not permitted to adopt ;-for not only did their Parliaments deny these Kings the neces sary supplies for defence against domestic rebellion and foreign aggression, but they even put under the ban of their high displeasure, and threatened with condign punishment, all those who should dare to lend their sovereign a guinea in the way of anticipation of his revenue; even though the same should be refunded by the borrower himself, within the year!-William knew well the persons whom he came to assist :--he knew why they wanted his help to dethrone their King and his own father-in-law; and he was acquainted with the venality of many of the leading

annum,

When chosen.

In December of the same year the Commons addressed King William, to make a provision of 50,000l. per for the Prince and Princess of Denmark: but the obtaining this address occasioned such a misunderstanding between the Queen and Princess, that the Queen would have no conversation or correspondence with her afterwards*.

Complaint being made to the Commons, in January, 1692,

of a pamphlet which endeavoured to show that "King
William and Queen Mary's right to the allegiance of
the subject was founded on conquest;"-and of Bishop
Burnet's Pastoral Letter, advancing the same doctrine;
they resolved that the laurels of the Revolution be-
longed solely to Parliament, and ordered both pamphlet
and letter to be burnt by the common hangman.
A practice prevailed, at this time, of pressing landmen
for the sea service, by the officers of the fleet, who
carried them over to Holland and sold them to the
officers of the army.-Whereupon, the Commons ordered
their Speaker, Sir John Trevor, to lay this oppression
before the King, who (being in want of FUNDS) directed
"that no officers should presume to press landmen for
the future."

The first public lottery was drawn in 1693, by Act of
Parliament.

An Act was also passed "for the relief of orphans, and other

creditors of the City of London."-The citizens had spent

men of the period :—he made his bargain accordingly. Aware that Acts of Parliament are all in all with Englishmen ;-that whatever is law is submissively bowed to;-he, with his minions, organized a system, which might be carried on ad infinitum, of borrowing large sums from individuals, on the parliamentary assurance of receiving perpetual interest or annuity for the same: he thus became master of the resources of the nation; and whilst the captive money-lender was fast bound to one side of his government-car, and a NATIONAL DEBT-PARLIAMENT graced the other, both parties drew him in triumph over the necks of a highly taxed and an insulted, because prostrate and unthinking people.-And this was the first effect of "The Glorious Revolution" of 1688!-How true it is that Englishmen have long gloried in their shame!

The circumstance which rendered this grant the more necessary, was the filial attachment which the Princess Anne always bore to that father whom Mary's husband had dethroned:-she continued her assistance to him to the last hour of his life, and to her brother afterwards.