fusal to his ambassador, by telling him, "that they refused because they had no mind to part with Luxemburg, which they knew was to be sacrificed if they accepted the offer."* of the latter party was as much an obstacle in his way as their alienation or opposition. The interest of Europe required that he should never relinquish the attempt to detach the English government from the conqueror. The same principle, together with legitimate ambition, prescribed that he should do nothing, either by exciting enemies, or estranging friends, which could endanger his own and the Princess' right of succession to the crown. It was his obvious policy, therefore, to keep up a good understanding with the popular party, on whom alone he could permanent William's connection with the House of Stuart was sometimes employed by France to strengthen the jealous antipathy of the Republicans against him; while on other occasions he was himself obliged to profess a reliance on that connection which he did not feel, in order to gain an appearance of strength. As the Dutch Republicans were prompted to thwart his measures by a mis-ly rely; to give a cautious countenance to applied zeal for liberty, so the English Whigs were for a moment compelled to enter into a correspondence with the common enemy by the like motives. But in his peculiar relations with England the imprudent violence their measures of constitutional opposition, and especially to the Bill of Exclusion,*more effectual mode of cutting asunder the chains which bound England to the car of Louis, than the proposed limitations on a Catholic successor, which might permanently weaken the defensive force of the monarchy;t and to discourage and stand aloof from all violent counsels,-likely either to embroil the country in such lasting confusion as would altogether disable it for aiding the sinking fortunes of Europe, or, by their immediate suppression, to subject all national interests and feelings to Charles and his brother. As his open declaration against the King or the popular party would have been perhaps equally dangerous to English liberty and European independence, he was averse from those projects which reduced him to so injurious an alternative. Hence his conduct in the case of what is called the "Rye House Plot," in which his confidential correspondencet manifests indifference and even dislike to those who were charged with projects of revolt; all which might seem unnatural if we did not bear in mind that at the moment of the siege of Vienna, he must have looked at England almost solely, as the from English intrigues was at this juncture only counterpoise of France. His abstinence strengthened by lingering hopes that it was still possible to lure Charles into those unions which he had begun to form against farther encroachment, under the modest and inoffensive name of "Associations to maintain the Treaty of Nimeguen," which were in three *Lord Preston to Secretary Jenkins, Paris, 16th Dec. 1682. Admitted within the domestic differences of England, Louis had not scrupled to make advances to the enemies of the court; and they, desirous of detaching their own sovereign from France, and of thus depriving him of the most effectual ally in his project for rendering himself absolute, had reprehensibly accepted the aid of Louis in counteracting a policy which they had good reason to dread. They considered this dangerous understanding as allowable for the purpose of satisfying their party, that in opposing Charles they would not have to apprehend the power of Louis, and disposing the King of France to spare the English constitution, as some curb on the irresolution and inconstancy of his royal dependent. To destroy confidence between the Courts seemed to be an object so important, as to warrant the use of ambiguous means; and the usual sophistry, by which men who are not depraved excuse to themselves great breaches of morality, could not be wanting. They could easily persuade themselves that they could stop when they pleased, and that the example could not be dangerous in a case where the danger was too great not to be of very rare occurrence. them are said by Barillon to have so far copied Some of their prince as to have received French money, though they are not charged with being, like him, induced by it to adopt any measures at variance with their avowed principles. If we must be. lieve, that in an age of little pecuniary delicacy, when large presents from sovereigns were scarcely deemed dishonourable, and when many princes, and almost all ministers, were in the pay of Louis XIV., the statement may be true, it is due to the haughty temper, not to say to the high principles of Sidney, it is due, though in a very inferior degree, to the ample fortunes of others of the persons named, also to believe, that the polluted gifts were applied by them to elections and other public interests of the popular party, which there might be a fantastic gratification in promoting by treasures diverted from the use of the Court. These unhappy transactions, which in their full extent require a more critical scrutiny of the original documents than that to which they have been subjected, are not pretended to originate till ten years after the concert of the two Courts, and were re-pendix to Review. linquished as soon as that concert was resumed. Yet the reproach brought upon the cause of liberty by the infirmity of some men of great soul, and of others of the purest virtue, is, perhaps, the most wholesome admonition pronounced by the warning voice of history against the employment of sinister and equivocal means for the attainment of the best ends. * Burnet, vol. ii. p. 245. Temple, vol. i. p. 355. My friendship with the Prince (says Temple) I could think no crime, considering how little he had ever meddled, to my knowledge, in our domestic concerns since the first heats in Parliament, though sensible of their influence on all his nearest concerns at home; the preservation of Flanders from French conquests, and thereby of Holland from absolute dependence on that Crown." † Letters of the Prince to Sir Leoline Jenkins, July, 1680.-February, 1681. Dalrymple, Ap MS. letters from the Prince to Mr. Bentinck, in England, July and August, 1683. By the favour of the Duke of Portland, I possess copies of the whole of the Prince's correspondence with his friend, from 1677 to 1700; written with the unreserved frankness of warm and pure friend. ship, in which it is quite manifest that there is nothing concealed. years afterwards completed by the League | English Officers in the Dutch army, and of Augsburgh, and which, in 1689, brought adapt his policy to such engagements as all Europe into the field to check the career of Louis XIV. The death of Charles II. gave William some hope of an advantageous change in English policy. Many worse men and more tyrannical kings than that prince, few persons of more agreeable qualities and brilliant talents have been seated on a throne. But his transactions with France probably afford the most remarkable instance of a king with no sense of national honour or of regal independence,—the last vestiges which departing virtue might be expected to leave behind in a royal bosom. More jealousy of dependence on a foreign prince was hoped from the sterner temper of his successor. William accordingly made great efforts and sacrifices to obtain the accession of England to the European cause. He declared his readiness to sacrifice his resentments, and even his personal interests, and to conform his conduct to the pleasure of the King in all things compatible with his religion and with his duty to the republic;*-limitations which must have been considered as pledges of sincerity by him to whom they were otherwise unacceptable. He declared his regret at the appearance of opposition to both his uncles, which had arisen only from the necessity of resisting Louis, and he sent M. D'Auverquerque to England to lay his submission before the King. James desired that he should relinquish communication with the Duke of Monmouth,† dismiss the malcontent Davaux, 13th-26th Feb., 1685. The last contains an account of a conversation of William with Fagel, overheard by a person who reported it to Davaux. A passage in which Davaux shows his belief that the policy of the Prince now aimed at gaining James, is suppressed in the printed collection. † During these unexpected advances to a renewal of friendship, an incident occurred, which has ever since, in the eyes of many, thrown some shade over the sincerity of William. This was the landing in England of the Duke of Monmouth, with a small number of adherents who had embarked with him at Amsterdam. He had taken refuge in the Spanish Netherlands, and afterwards in Holland, during the preceding year, in consequence of a misunderstanding between him and the ministers of Charles respecting the nature and extent of the confession concerning the reality of the Rye House Plot, published by them in language which he resented as conveying unauthorised imputations on his friends. The Prince and Princess of Orange received him with kindness, from personal friendship, from compassion for his sufferings, and from his connection with the popular and Protestant party in England. The transient shadow of a pretension to the crown did not awaken their jealousy. They were well aware that whatever complaints might be made by his ministers, Charles himself would not be displeased by kindness shown towards his favourite son. There is, indeed, little doubt, that in the last year of his life, Charles had been prevailed on by Halifax to consult his ease, as well as his inclination, by the recall of his son, as a counterpoise to the Duke of York, and thus to produce the balance of parties at court, which was one of the darling refinements of that too ingenious statesman. Reports were prevalent that Monmouth had pri. vately visited England, and that he was well pleased with his journey. He was assured by confidential letters, evidently sanctioned by his father, that he should be recalled in February. It appears also, that Charles had written with his own hand a letter to the Prince of Orange, beseeching him to treat Monmouth kindly, which as a satisfactory explanation of whatever might D'Auverquerque was directed to lay before James seem suspicious in the unusual honours paid to him. Before he left the Hague the Prince and Princess approved the draft of a submissive letter to James, which he had laid before them; and they exacted from him a promise that he would this submission. Despairing of clemency from engage in no violent enterprises inconsistent with his uncle, he then appears to have entertained designs of retiring into Sweden, or of serving in the Imperial army against the Turks; and he listened for a moment to the projects of some put himself at the head of their unfortunate breFrench Protestants, who proposed that he should thren. He himself thought the difficulties of an enterprise against England insuperable; but the importunity of the English and Scotch refugees in Holland induced him to return privately there the Scotch exiles, who were proportionately more to be present at their consultations. He found numerous and of greater distinction, and who felt more bitterly from the bloody tyranny under which their countrymen suffered, impatiently desirous to make an immediate attempt for the delivery of their country. Ferguson, the Nonconformist preacher, either from treachery, or from rashAndrew Fletcher of Saltoun, a man of heroic ness, seconded the impetuosity of his countrymen. spirit, and a lover of liberty even to enthusiasm, who had just returned from serving in Hungary, dissuaded his friends from an enterprise which his political sagacity and military experience taught him to consider as hopeless. In assemblies of suffering and angry exiles it was to be expected that rash counsels should prevail; yet Monmouth appears to have resisted them longer than could have been hoped from his judgment or temper. It was not till two months after the death of Charles II. (9th April, 1685,) that the vigilant Davaux intimated his suspicion of a design to land in England. Nor was it till three weeks that he was able to transmit to his Court the particulars of the equipment. It was only then that Skelton, the minister of James, complained of these petty armaments to the President of the States-General and the magistrates of Amsterdam, neither of whom had any authority in the case. They referred him to the Admiralty of Amster dam, the competent authority in such cases, who, as soon as they were authorised by an order from the States-General, proceeded to arrest the ves sels freighted by Argyle. But in consequence of a mistake in Skelton's description of their station, their exertions were too late to prevent the sailing of the unfortunate expedition on the 5th of May. The natural delays of a slow and formal government, the jealousy of rival authorities, exasperated by the spirit of party, and the license shown in such a country to navigation and traffic, are sufficient to account for this short delay. If there was in this case a more than usual indisposi tion to overstep the formalities of the constitution, or to quicken the slow pace of the administration, it may be well imputed to natural compassion towards the exiles, and to the strong fellow-feeling which arose from agreement in religious opinion, especially with the Scotch. If there were proof even of absolute connivance, it must be ascribed solely to the magistrates and inhabitants of Am the King should see fit to contract with his the confederacy gradually forming to protect neighbours. To the former conditions the the remains of Europe, had now slowly and Prince submitted without reserve: the last, silently removed all the obstacles to its forcouched in strong language by James to mation, except those which arose from the Barillon, hid under more general expressions unhappy jealousies of the friends of liberty by the English minister to Davaux, but im- at home, and the fatal progress towards abplying in its mildest form an acquiescence in solute monarchy in England. Good sense, the projects of the conqueror, was probably which, in so high a degree as his, is one of conveyed to the Prince himself in terms the rarest of human endowments, had full capable of being understood as amounting scope for its exercise in a mind seldom inonly to an engagement to avoid an interrup-vaded by the disturbing passions of fear and tion of the general peace. In that inoffensive anger. With all his determined firmness, sense it seems to have been accepted by the Prince; since the King declared to him that his concessions, which could have reached no farther, were perfectly satisfactory.* no man was ever more solicitous not to provoke or keep up needless enmity. It is no wonder that he should have been influenced by this principle in his dealings with Sidney was sent to Holland-a choice Charles and James, for there are traces of it which seemed to indicate an extraordinary even in his rare and transient intercourse deference for the wishes of the Prince, and with Louis XIV. He caused it to be intiwhich was considered in Holland as a deci- mated to him "that he was ambitious of sive mark of good understanding between being restored to his Majesty's favour;"* to the two governments. The proud and hostile which it was haughtily answered, "that city of Amsterdam presented an address of when such a disposition was shown in his congratulation to William on the defeat of conduct, the King would see what was to be Monmouth; and the Republican party be- done." Yet Davaux believed that the Prince gan to despair of effectual resistance to the really desired to avoid the enmity of Louis, power of the Stadtholder, now about to be as far as was compatible with his duties to strengthened by the alliance with England. Holland, and his interests in England. In a The Dutch ambassadors in London, in spite conversation with Gourville,† which affords of the remonstrances of Barillon, succeeded one of the most characteristic specimens of in concluding a treaty for the renewal of intercourse between a practised courtier and the defensive alliance between England and a man of plain inoffensive temper, when the Holland, which, though represented to Louis minister had spoken to him in more soothing as a mere formality, was certainly a step language, he professed his warm wish to which required little more than that liberal please the King, and proved his sincerity by construction to which a defensive treaty is adding that he never could neglect the safety always entitled, to convert it into an acces- of Holland, and that the decrees of re-union, sion by England to the concert of the other together with other marks of projects of unistates of Europe, for the preservation of their versal monarchy, were formidable obstacles rights and dominions. The connection be- to good understanding. It was probably tween the Dutch and English governments after one of these attempts that he made the answered alike the immediate purposes of remarkable declaration,-"Since I cannot both parties. It overawed the malcontents earn his Majesty's favour, I must endeavour of Holland, as well as those of England; and to earn his esteem." Nothing but an extraJames commanded his ministers to signify ordinary union of wariness with perseverto the magistrates of Amsterdam, that their ance-two qualities which he possessed in a support of the Stadtholder would be accept-higher degree, and united in juster proporable to his Majesty. William, who, from the peace of Nimeguen, had been the acknowledged chief of sterdam, the ancient enemies of the House of Orange, who might look with favour on an expedition which might prevent the Stadtholder from being strengthened by his connection with the King of England, and who, as we are told by Davaux himself, were afterwards filled with consternation when they learned the defeat of Monmouth. We know little with certainty of the particulars of his intercourse with his inex orable uncle, from his capture till his execution, except the compassionate interference of the Queen Dowager in his behalf; but whatever it was, from the King's conduct immediately after, it tended rather to strengthen than to shake his confidence in the Prince. James to the Prince of Orange, 6th, 16th, and 17th March.-Dalrymple, app. to part i. tions, perhaps, than any other man-could * Davaux, vol. i. p. 5. DISCOURSE READ AT THE OPENING OF THE LITERARY SOCIETY OF BOMBAY. [26th Nov. 1804.] GENTLEMEN, The smallest society, brought continent of Europe,-to whose enjoyment together by the love of knowledge, is respect- the applause of others seems more indispen able in the eye of Reason; and the feeblest sable, and whose faculties are more nimble efforts of infaut Literature in barren and in- and restless, if not more vigorous than ours, hospitable regions are in some respects more—are neither so patient of repose, nor so interesting than the most elaborate works likely to be contented with a secret hoard of and the most successful exertions of the hu- knowledge. They carry even into their lite man mind. They prove the diffusion, at rature a spirit of bustle and parade;-a bus. least, if not the advancement of science; tle, indeed, which springs from activity, and and they afford some sanction to the hope, a parade which animates enterprise, but that Knowledge is destined one day to visit which are incompatible with our sluggish the whole earth, and, in her beneficial pro- and sullen dignity. Pride disdains ostentagress, to illuminate and humanise the whole tion, scorns false pretensions, despises even race of man. It is, therefore, with singular petty merit, refuses to obtain the objects of pleasure that I see a small but respectable pursuit by flattery or importunity, and scarce. body of men assembled here by such a prin-ly values any praise but that which she has ciple. I hope that we agree in considering the right to command. Pride, with which all Europeans who visit remote countries, whatever their separate pursuits may be, as detachments of the main body of civilized men, sent out to levy contributions of knowledge, as well as to gain victories over barbarism. When a large portion of a country so interesting as India fell into the hands of one of the most intelligent and inquisitive nations of the world, it was natural to expect that its ancient and present state should at last be fully disclosed. These expectations were, indeed, for a time disappointed: during the tumult of revolution and war it would have been unreasonable to have entertained them; and when tranquillity was established in that country, which continues to be the centre of the British power in Asia, it ought not to have been forgotten that every Englishman was fully occupied by commerce, by military service, or by administration; that we had among us no idle public of readers, and, consequently, no separate profession of writers; and that every hour bestowed on study was to be stolen from the leisure of men often harassed by business, enervated by the climate, and more disposed to seek amusement than new occupation, in the intervals of their appointed toils. It is, besides, a part of our national character, that we are seldom eager to display, and not always ready to communicate, what we have acquired. In this respect we differ considerably from other lettered nations. Our ingenious and polite neighbours on the * Bengal.-ED. foreigners charge us, and which under the name of a sense of dignity' we claim for ourselves, is a lazy and unsocial quality; and is in these respects, as in most others, the very reverse of the sociable and goodhumoured vice of vanity. It is not, there fore, to be wondered at, if in India our na tional character, co-operating with local circumstances, should have produced some real and perhaps more apparent inactivity in working the mine of knowledge of which we had become the masters. Yet some of the earliest exertions of private Englishmen are too important to be passed over in silence. The compilation of laws by Mr. Halhed, and the Ayeen Akba ree, translated by Mr. Gladwin, deserve honourable mention. Mr. Wilkins gained the memorable distinction of having opened the treasures of a new learned language to Europe. But, notwithstanding the merit of these individual exertions, it cannot be denied that the era of a general direction of the mind of Englishmen in this country towards learned inquiries, was the foundation of the Asiatic Society by Sir William Jones. To give such an impulse to the public understanding is one of the greatest benefits that a man can confer on his fellow men. On such an occa. sion as the present, it is impossible to pronounce the name of Sir William Jones with out feelings of gratitude and reverence. He was among the distinguished persons who adorned one of the brightest periods of English literature. It was no mean distinction to be conspicuous in the age of Burke and compensated by the opposite ones of his successor. "Whatever withdraws us from the dominion of the senses-whatever makes the past, the distant, and the future, predominate over the present, advances us in the dignity of thinking beings."* which in its full extent would have had the happiest tendency in securing the good government of India, as well as in promoting the interest of science. Even in its present mutilated state we have seen, at the last public exhibition, Sanscrit declamation by English youth;t-a circumstance so extraordinary, that, if it be followed by suitable advances, it will mark an epoch in the history of learning. Johnson, of Hume and Smith, of Gray and Goldsmith, of Gibbon and Robertson, of Reynolds and Garrick. It was the fortune of Sir William Jones to have been the friend of the greater part of these illustrious men. Without him, the age in which he lived would have been inferior to past times in It is not for me to attempt an estimate of one kind of literary glory: he surpassed all those exertions for the advancement of knowhis contemporaries, and perhaps even the ledge which have arisen from the example most laborious scholars of the two former and exhortations of Sir William Jones. In centuries, in extent and variety of attainment. all judgments pronounced on our contempoHis facility in acquiring was almost prodi- raries it is so certain that we shall be acgious; and he possessed that faculty of ar- cused, and, so probable that we may be ranging and communicating his knowledge justly accused, of either partially bestowing, which these laborious scholars very generally or invidiously withholding praise, that it is wanted. Erudition, which in them was in general better to attempt no encroachoften disorderly and rugged, and had some-ment on the jurisdiction of Time, which thing of an illiberal and almost barbarous alone impartially and justly estimates the air, was by him presented to the world with works of men. But it would be unpardonall the elegance and amenity of polite litera- able not to speak of the College at Calcutta, ture. Though he seldom directed his mind the original plan of which was doubtless the to those subjects the successful investigation most magnificent attempt ever made for the of which confers the name of a "philosopher," promotion of learning in the East. I am not yet he possessed in a very eminent degree conscious that I am biassed either by perthat habit of disposing his knowledge in sonal feelings, or literary prejudices when I regular and analytical order, which is one say, that I consider that original plan as a of the properties of a philosophical under-wise and noble proposition, the adoption of standing. His talents as an elegant writer in verse were among his instruments for attaining knowledge, and a new example of the variety of his accomplishments. In his easy and flowing prose we justly admire that order of exposition and transparency of language, which are the most indispensable qualities of style, and the chief excellencies of which it is capable, when it is employed solely to instruct. His writings everywhere breathe pure taste in morals as well as in literature; and it may be said with truth, that not a single sentiment has escaped him which does not indicate the real elegance and dignity which pervaded the most secret recesses of his mind. He had lived, perhaps, too exclusively in the world of learning for the cultivation of his practical understanding. Other men have meditated more deeply on the constitution of society, and have taken more comprehensive views of its complicated relations and infinitely varied interests. Others have, therefore, often taught sounder principles of political science; but no man more warmly felt, and no author is better calculated to inspire, those generous sentiments of liberty, without which the most just principles are useless and lifeless, and which will, I trust, continue to flow through the channels of eloquence and poetry into the minds of British youth. It has, indeed, been somewhat lamented that he should have exclusively directed inquiry to-be pursued only in India. wards antiquities. But every man must be allowed to recommend most strongly his own favourite pursuits; and the chief difficulty as well as the chief merit is his, who first raises the minds of men to the love of any part of knowledge. When mental activity is once roused, its direction is easily changed; and the excesses of one writer, if they are not checked by public reason, are Among the humblest fruits of this spirit I take the liberty to mention the project of forming this Society, which occurred to me before I left England, but which never could have advanced even to its present state without your hearty concurrence, and which must depend on your active co-operation for all hopes of future success. You will not suspect me of presuming to dictate the nature and object of our common exertions. To be valuable they must be spontaneous; and no literary society can subsist on any other principle than that of equality. In the observations which I shall make on the plan and subject of our inquiries, I shall offer myself to you only as the representative of the curiosity of Europe. I am ambitious of no higher office than that of faithfully conveying to India the desires and wants of the learned at home, and of stating the subjects on which they wish and expect satisfaction, from inquiries which can In fulfilling the duties of this mission, I shall not be expected to exhaust so vast a subject; nor is it necessary that I should attempt an exact distribution of science. A very general sketch is all that I can pro * Dr. Johnson at Iona.-ED. t It must be remembered that this was written in 1804.-ED. |