on the about a general reconciliation. His The division was taken abilities, which age had not impaired, question whether Middleton's motion and his professional knowledge, which should be put. The Noes were ordered had long overawed all Westminster by the Speaker to go forth into the Hall, commanded the ear of the House of Commons. He, too, declared himself against the augmentation of the regular forces. After much debate, it was resolved that a supply should be granted to the Crown; but it was also resolved that a bill should be brought in for making the militia more efficient. This last resolution was tantamount to a declaration against the standing army. The King was greatly displeased; and it was whispered that, if things went on thus, the session would not be of long duration.* On the morrow the contention was renewed. The language of the country party was perceptibly bolder and sharper than on the preceding day. That paragraph of the King's speech which related to supply preceded the paragraph which related to the test. On this ground Middleton proposed that the paragraph relating to supply should be first considered in committee. The opposition moved the previous question. They contended that the reasonable and constitutional practice was to grant no money till grievances had been redressed, and that there would be an end of this practice if the House thought itself bound servilely to follow the order in which matters were mentioned by the King from the throne. 13 16 26 * Commons' Journals, Nov. 12. 1685; Van Leeuwen, Nov. 3; Barillon, Nov. 2.; Sir John Bramston's Memoirs. The best report 1685, is one of which the history is somewhat curious. There are two manuscript copies of it in the British Museum, Harl. 7187.; Lans. 253. In these copies the names of the speakers are given at length. The author of the Life of James published in 1702 transcribed this report, but gave only the initials of the speakers. The editors of Chandler's Debates and of the Parliamentary History guessed from these initials at the names, and sometimes guessed wrong. They ascribe to Waller a very remarkable speech, which will hereafter be mentioned, and which was really made by Windham, member for Salisbury. It was with some concern that I found myself forced to give up the belief that the last of the debates of the Commons in November words uttered in public by Waller were so honourable to him. lobby. They resented this much, and complained loudly of his servility and partiality: for they conceived that, according to the intricate and subtle rule which was then in force, and which, in our time, was superseded by a more rational and convenient prac tice, they were entitled to keep their seats; and it was held by all the parliamentary tacticians of that age that the party which stayed in the House had an advantage over the party which went out; for the accommodation on the benches was then so deficient that no person who had been fortunate enough to get a good seat was willing to lose it. Nevertheless, to the dismay of the ministers, many persons on whose votes the Court had absolutely depended were seen moving towards the door. Among them was Charles Fox, Paymaster of the Forces, and son of Sir Stephen Fox, Clerk of the Green Cloth. The Paymaster had been induced by his friends to absent himself during part of the discussion. But his anxiety had become insupportable, He came down to the Speaker's chamber, heard part of the debate, withdrew, and, after hesitating for an hour or two between conscience and five thousand pounds a year, took a manly resolution and rushed into the House just in time to vote. Two officers of the army, Colonel John Darcy son of the Lord Conyers, and Captain James Kendall, withdrew to the lobby. Middleton went down to the bar and expostulated warmly with them. He particularly addressed himself to Kendall, a needy retainer of the Court, who had, in obedience to the royal mandate, been sent to Parliament by a packed corporation in Cornwall, and who had recently obtained a grant of a hundred head of rebels sentenced to transportation. Sir," said Middleton, "have not you a troop of horse in His Majesty's service?" "Yes, my Lord," answered Kendall: "but my elder brother is just dead, and has left me seven hundred a year." Defeat of the go vernment. In consequence of this vote the expressions which the King had used respecting the test were taken into consideration. It was resolved, after much discussion, that an address should be presented to him, reminding him that he could not legally continue to employ officers who refused to qualify, and pressing him to give such directions as might quiet the apprehensions and jealousies of his people.† He When the tellers had done their The House then resolved itself into office it appeared that the a committee, for the purpose of conAyes were one hundred and sidering the amount of supply to be eighty two, and the Noes one granted. The King wanted fourteen hundred and eighty three. In that hundred thousand pounds; but the House of Commons which had been ministers saw that it would be vain to brought together by the unscrupulous ask for so large a sum. The Chancellor use of chicanery, of corruption, and of the Exchequer mentioned twelve of violence, in that House of Commons hundred thousand pounds. The chiefs of which James had said that more of the opposition replied that to vote than eleven twelfths of the members for such a grant would be to vote for the were such as he would himself have permanence of the present military esnominated, the Court had sustained a tablishment: they were disposed to give defeat on a vital question.* only so much as might suffice to keep the regular troops on foot till the militia could be remodelled; and they therefore proposed four hundred thousand pounds. The courtiers exclaimed against this motion as unworthy of the House and disrespectful to the King: but they were manfully encountered. One of the western members, John Windham, who sate for Salisbury, especially distinguished himself. had always, he said, looked with dread and aversion on standing armies; and recent experience had strengthened those feelings. He then ventured to touch on a theme which had hitherto been studiously avoided. He described the desolation of the western counties. The people, he said, were weary of the oppression of the troops, weary of free quarters, of depredations, of The still fouler crimes which the law called felonies, but for which, when perpetrated by this class of felons, no redress could be obtained. The King's servants had indeed told the House that excellent rules had been laid down for the government of the army; but none could venture to say that these rules had been observed. What, then, was the inevitable inference? Did not the contrast between the paternal injunctions issued from the throne and the insupportable tyranny of the soldiers prove that the army was even now too strong for the prince as well as for the throw the smallest light on the state of parties. I must own myself unable to draw with confidence any inference from the names of the tellers, Sir Joseph Williamson and Sir Francis Russell for the majority, and Lord Ancram and Sir Henry Goodricke for the minority. I should have thought Lord Ancram likely to go with the court, and Sir Henry Goodricke likely to go with the opposition. A motion was then made that the Lords should be requested to join in the address. Whether this motion was honestly made by the opposition, in the hope that the concurrence of the peers would add weight to the remonstrance, or artfully made by the courtiers, in the hope that a breach between the Houses might be the consequence, it is now impossible to discover. proposition was rejected. ‡ * Commons' Journals, Nov. 13. 1685; Bramston's Memoirs; Reresby's Memoirs; Barillon, Nov. 16.; Van Leeuwen, Nov. 13.; Memoirs of Sir Stephen Fox, 1717; The Case of the Church of England fairly stated; Burnet, 26* i. 666. and Speaker Onslow's note. † Commons' Journals, Nov. 13. 1685; Harl. MS. 7187.; Lansdowne MS. 253. The conflict of testimony on this subject is most extraordinary; and, after long consideration, I must own that the balance seems to me to be exactly poised. In the Life of James (1702), the motion is represented as a court motion. This account is confirmed by a remarkable passage in the Stuart Papers, which was corrected by the Pretender himself. (Life of James the Second, ii. 55.) On the other hand, Reresby, who was present, and Barillon, who ought to have been well informed, represent the motion as an opposition motion. The Harleian and Lansdowne manuscripts differ in the single word on which the whole depends. Unfortunately Bramston was not at the House that day. James Van Leeuwen mentions the motion and the division, but does not add a word which can Second defeat of the government. the Com people? The Commons might surely, some time, a solemn stillness: then with perfect consistency, while they the order of the day was read in reposed entire confidence in the inten- regular course; and the House went tions of His Majesty, refuse to make into committee on the bill for remodelany addition to a force which it was ling the militia. clear that His Majesty could not manage. The motion that the sum to be granted should not exceed four hundred thousand pounds, was lost by twelve votes. This victory of the ministers was little better than a defeat. The leaders of the country party, nothing disheartened, retreated a little, made another stand, and proposed the sum of seven hundred thousand pounds. The committee divided again, and the courtiers were beaten by two hundred and twelve votes to one hundred and by a few high words." seventy.* repri King. In a few hours, however, the spirit of the opposition revived. Coke comWhen, at the close of the day, mitted by the Speaker resumed the chair, mons for disrespect Wharton, the boldest and most to the active of the Whigs, proposed that a time should be appointed for taking His Majesty's answer into consideration. John Coke, member for Derby, though a noted Tory, seconded Wharton. "I hope," he said, "that we are all Englishmen, and that we shall not be frightened from our duty It was manfully, but not wisely, On the following day the Commons spoken. The whole House was in a went in procession to White-tempest. "Take down his words," The King hall with their address on the "To the bar," "To the Tower," remands the subject of the test. The King sounded from every side. Those who Commons. received them on his throne. were most lenient proposed that the The address was drawn up in respectful offender should be reprimanded: but and affectionate language; for the great the ministers vehemently insisted that majority of those who had voted for it he should be sent to prison. The House were zealously and even superstitiously might pardon, they said, offences loyal, and had readily agreed to insert committed against itself, but had no some complimentary phrases, and to right to pardon an insult offered to the omit every word which the courtiers Crown. Coke was sent to the Tower. thought offensive. The answer of The indiscretion of one man had deJames was a cold and sullen repri- ranged the whole system of tactics mand. He declared himself greatly which had been so ably concerted by displeased and amazed that the Com- the chiefs of the opposition. It was in mons should have profited so little by vain that, at that moment, Edward the admonition which he had given Seymour attempted to rally his folthem. "But," said he, "however you lowers, exhorted them to fix a day may proceed on your part, I will be for discussing the King's answer, and very steady in all the promises which expressed his confidence that the disI have made to you." + cussion would be conducted with the respect due from subjects to the sovereign. The members were so much cowed by the royal displeasure, and so much incensed by the rudeness of Coke, that it would not have been safe to divide.* The Commons reassembled in their chamber, discontented, yet somewhat overawed. To most of them the King was still an object of filial reverence. Three more years filled with bitter injuries, and with not less bitter insults, were scarcely sufficient to dissolve the ties which bound the Cavalier gentry to the throne. The Speaker repeated the substance of the King's reply. There was, for *Commons' Journals, Nov. 16. 1685; Harl. MS. 7187.; Lansdowne MS. 235. + Commons' Journals, Nov. 17, 18. 1685. The House adjourned; and the ministers flattered themselves that the spirit of opposition was quelled. But on the morrow, the nineteenth of November, new and alarming symptoms *Commons' Journals, Nov. 18. 1685; Harl. MS. 7187.; Lansdowne MS. 253.; Burnet, i. 667. appeared. The time had arrived for his classical learning, his high spirit, taking into consideration the petitions the grace and urbanity of his manners, which had been presented from all were admitted by his enemies. His parts of England against the late elec- eulogists, unhappily, could not pretend tions. When, on the first meeting of the that his morals had escaped untainted Parliament, Seymour had complained from the widespread contagion of that of the force and fraud by which the age. Though an enemy of Popery and government had prevented the sense of of arbitrary power, he had been averse constituent bodies from being fairly to extreme courses, had been willing, taken, he had found no seconder. But when the Exclusion Bill was lost, to many who had then flinched from his agree to a compromise, and had never side had subsequently taken heart, and, been concerned in the illegal and imwith Sir John Lowther, member for prudent schemes which had brought Cumberland, at their head, had, before discredit on the Whig party. But, the recess, suggested that there ought while blaming part of the conduct of to be an inquiry into the abuses which his friends, he had not failed to perhad so much excited the public mind. form zealously the most arduous and The House was now in a much more perilous duties of friendship. He had angry temper; and many voices were stood near Russell at the bar, had boldly raised in menace and accusation. parted from him on the sad morning of The ministers were told that the nation the execution with close embraces and expected, and should have, signal re- with many bitter tears, nay, had offered dress. Meanwhile it was dexterously to manage an escape at the hazard of intimated that the best atonement his own life.* This great nobleman which a gentleman who had been now proposed that a day should be brought into the House by irregular means could make to the public was to use his ill acquired power in defence of the religion and liberties of his country. No member, who, in that crisis, did his duty, had anything to fear. It might be necessary to unseat him; but the whole influence of the opposition should be employed to procure his reelection.* to the go in the Lords. shire. On the same day it became clear that the spirit of opposition Opposition had spread from the Commons vernment to the Lords, and even to the episcopal bench. William Caof Devon- vendish, Earl of Devonshire, took the lead in the Upper House; and he was well qualified to do so. In wealth and influence he was second to none of the English nobles; and the general voice designated him as the finest gentleman of his time. His magnificence, his taste, his talents, Lonsdale's Memoirs. Burnet, tells us (i. 667.) that a sharp debate about elections took place in the House of Commons after Coke's committal. It must therefore have been on the 19th of November; for Coke was committed late on the 18th, and the Parliament was prorogued on the 20th. Burnet's narrative is confirmed by the Journals, from which it appears that several elections were under discussion on the 19th. fixed for considering the royal speech. The London. * Burnet, i. 560.; Funeral Sermon of the Duke of Devonshire, preached by Kennet, 1708; Travels of Cosmo III. in England; The Hazard of a Death-bed Repentance argued from the Remorse of Conscience of Wlate D of D- when dying, a most absurd pamphlet by John Dunton which reached a tenth edition. † Bramston's Memoirs. Burnet is incorrect both as to the time when the remark was made and as to the person who made it. In Halifax's Letter to a Dissenter will be found a remarkable allusion to this discussion. 66 the few clergymen who could, in that the Commons for not having taken a age, boast of noble blood. His own bolder line. They have been afraid," loyalty, and the loyalty of his family, he said, "to speak out. They have had been signally proved. His father, talked of apprehensions and jealousies. the second Earl of Northampton, had What have apprehension and jealousy fought bravely for King Charles the to do here? Apprehension and jealousy First, and, surrounded by the parlia- are the feelings with which we regard mentary soldiers, had fallen, sword in future and uncertain evils. The evil hand, refusing to give or take quarter. which we are considering is neither The Bishop himself, before he was or- future nor uncertain. A standing army dained, had borne arms in the Guards; exists. It is officered by Papists. We and, though he generally did his best have no foreign enemy. There is no to preserve the gravity and sobriety rebellion in the land. For what, then, befitting a prelate, some flashes of his is this force maintained, except for the military spirit would, to the last, occa- purpose of subverting our laws, and sionally break forth. He had been establishing that arbitrary power which entrusted with the religious education is so justly abhorred by Englishmen ?”* of the two Princesses, and had acquitted himself of that important duty in a manner which had satisfied all good Protestants, and had secured to him considerable influence over the minds of his pupils, especially of the Lady Anne. He now declared that he was empowered to speak the sense of his brethren, and that, in their opinion and in his own, the whole civil and ecclesiastical constitution of the realm was in danger. Viscount One of the most remarkable speeches of that day was made by a Mordaunt young man, whose eccentric career was destined to amaze Europe. This was Charles Mordaunt, Viscount Mordaunt, widely renowned, many years later, as Earl of Peterborough. Already he had given abundant proofs of his courage, of his capacity, and of that strange unsoundness of mind which made his courage and capacity almost useless to his country. Already he had distinguished himself as a wit and a scholar, as a soldier and a sailor. He had even set his heart on rivalling Bourdaloue and Bossuet. Though an avowed freethinker, he had sate up all night at sea to compose sermons, and had with great difficulty been prevented from edifying the crew of a man of war with his pious oratory. He now addressed the House of Peers, for the first time, with characteristic eloquence, sprightliness, and audacity. He blamed Wood, Ath. Ox.; Gooch's Funeral Sermon on Bishop Compton. † Teonge's Diary. Jeffreys spoke against the motion in the coarse and savage style of which he was a master; but he soon found that it was not quite so easy to browbeat the proud and powerful barons of England in their own hall as to intimidate advocates whose bread depended on his favour or prisoners whose necks were at his mercy. A man whose life has been passed in attacking and domineering, whatever may be his talents and courage, generally inakes a poor figure when he is vigorously assailed: for, being unaccustomed to stand on the defensive, he becomes confused; and the knowledge that all those whom he has insulted are enjoying his confusion confuses him still more. Jeffreys was now, for the first time since he had become a great man, encountered on equal terms by adversaries who did not fear him. To the general delight. he passed at once from the extreme of insolence to the extreme of meanness, and could not refrain from weeping with rage and *Barillon has given the best account of this debate. I will extract his report of Mordaunt's speech. Milord Mordaunt, quoique jeune, parla avec éloquence et force. Il dis que la question n'étoit pas réduite, comme la Chambre des Communes le prétendoit, à guérir les choses incertaines; mais que ce qui se pasdes jalousies et défiances, qui avoient lieu dans soit ne.l'étoit pas, qu'il y avoit une armée sur pied qui subsistoit, et qui étoit remplie d'offvée que pour le renversement des loix, et que ciers Catholiques, qui ne pouvoit être conserla sub-istance de l'armée, quand il n'y a aucune guerre ni au dedans ni au dehors, étoit l'établissement du gouvernement arbitraire, pour lequel les Anglois ont une aversion si bien fondée." |
