attempt in vain. Ronquillo, the Spanish ambassador in England, also inculcated the same lessons of wisdom; which were entirely disregarded by James, who was under the absolute government of the priests by whom he was surrounded, and who were continually urging the necessity of adopting vigorous and decisive measures, in order to accomplish the great work of national conversion during the lifetime of the king, as their labors would otherwise be rendered wholly ineffectual. The general disposition of the people, which was at this time patiently, or rather stupidly, passive, encouraged the king to venture upon measures, which his long experience of the English nation, if he had been a man capable of reflection, must have convinced him would sooner or later arouse that dormant but unconquerable spirit of resistance to regal tyranny, which had for many centuries distinguished the inhabitants of this island. Parliament In the month of May 1685 the parliament 1685 was convened; and so low was the credit of the Meeting of whigs and exclusionists now fallen, and such the success of the measures employed by the court to influence or intimidate the electors throughout the kingdom, that the king declared, upon inspecting the returns, that there were not above forty members chosen but such as he himself wished for. It is superfluous to add, that the 1 Abject religion and liberties of the nation were never ex- and the guardian Scarcely had they king, to cause the penal laws to be put in strict execution against the dissenters; in consequence of which, persecution revived with greater fury than before, and it was manifest that the king, who had reason to regard them as his most determined enemies, was no less zealous than the parliament for their destruction*. By not only settling upon James Complaisance of the for life the revenue which determined at the decease of the late monarch, but by new grants, which raised the entire receipt of the exchequer to the annual sum of two millions, they virtually passed a law rendering parliaments in future wholly useless. For this revenue, with prudenee Commons. * Amongst many others, the venerable Baxter, at 70 years of age, was committed to the King's-bench prison; and being brought to his trial before the infamous Jeffries, was convicted, and sentenced to pay 500 marks, which being unable to discharge he remained in imprisonment till a total change of measures took place, two years afterwards. Having moved by his counsel, previous to the trial, for further time, Jeffries declared, "that he would not allow him a minute's time to save his life. . . . I know thou hast a mighty party," said this profligate magistrate," and I see a great many of the brotherhood in corners, waiting to see what will become of their mighty don; but, by the grace of God, I will crush you all." NEALS History of the Puritans, vol. iv. chap. 11. and economy, was fully equal to the ordinary exigencies of government; and James was now at liberty to prosecute his schemes free from the apprehension of parliamentary check or control. The speaker of the house of commons, however, on presenting the money-bills, ventured to inform the king," that on giving his majesty this signal proof of their loyalty and affection, they shewed how entirely they relied upon his majesty's royal word and repeated declarations to support the protestant religion as professed by the church of England, which was dearer to them than their lives:"-a manifest and decisive proof of that national abhorrence of popery, arising almost to phrensy, which could influence this assembly, in other respects so obsequious and abject, to express their feeling in language so bold and energetic. The king received this compliment in rude and ungracious silence. To compensate for a freedom so unwelcome, a bill was introduced into the house of commons, by which any thing said to disparage the king's person and government was made treason. This dangerous bill was very ably and strongly opposed by Serjeant Maynard, one of the few whigs sitting in this parliament, who displayed in striking colors the fatal consequences which would result from any deviation from the famous statute of Edward III. by which an overt aet was made the necessary and indispensable proof of treasonable intentions. "If words alone could by any construction of the law be converted into treason, he affirmed that no man's life, or liberty, or property, could be secure. Words were so liable to be misunderstood and misrepresented, and, by a very small variation, might be made to convey a sense so contrary to what was intended, that a law like this, which seemed expressly calculated for an instrument of tyranny, would be a virtual surrender of all our privileges into the hands of the sovereign." These arguments could not but make some impression upon the house, callous as it seemed to the feelings of honor, and regardless of the national interest or safety; and great debates ensued, which were suddenly interrupted by the intelligence of the duke of Monmouth's arrival in the west, with an of the Duke hostile armament from Holland. The commons Rebellion of Mon mouth. instantly voted an address, assuring the king of their resolution to adhere to him with their lives and fortunes; and after passing a bill of attainder against the duke, and granting a supply of 400,0001. for the suppression of this rebellion, they determined upon an adjournment. Immediately on the king's accession, the prince of Orange, knowing the inveterate animosity of James against the duke, who had for some time past resided at the Hague, thought it expedient to give him his dismission. The duke retired to Brussels; but being pursued thither also by the unrelenting jealousy of James, he adopted a sudden and rash resolution to attempt an invasion of England, at a season in every respect unpropitious to such an enterprise. At his first landing at Lyme, in Dorsetshire, he counted scarcely a hundred followers; but so great was his popularity, that in a few weeks he assembled with ease an army of several thousand men, and found himself in a condition to give battle to the king's forces, encamped under the command of the earl of Feversham at the village of Sedgemoor, near Battle of Bridgewater. Though his raw and undisciplined Siegemoor, troops displayed surprising valor and intrepidity 1655. in the attack, they were at last overpowered by the superiority of numbers and of military skill. Monmouth himself was taken in the pursuit; and though he implored the king's mercy-that mercy which he could never hope to obtain-with an earnestness and importunity by no means corresponding with the spirit and gallantry by which he had been formerly distinguished, he suffered death on the scaffold with calm resolution and constancy, professing to consider himself as a martyr for the people. The fate of this amiable and accomplished nobleman cannot be contemplated without emotions of grief and compassion. Educated in the bosom of a corrupt and dissipated court, and July 5, |