The power of the sovereign was limited by the constitution, or the laws which were to govern the kingdom. In the reign of William III., England became a constitutional limited monarchy; under which form of government she has risen to a proud eminence of national greatness and prosperity.

Some were for giving William the throne in right of his wife, the Princess Mary, she being the daughter of James. But the prince declined taking any part in the government, unless the authority were put in his own hands. "If you think fit to settle it otherwise," he said, "I will not oppose you, but will go back to Holland, and meddle no more in your affairs." The full exercise of the regal power was finally put into the hands of William, and in February, 1689, the Prince and Princess of Orange were proclaimed king and queen of England.

The primate and seven bishops, and about four hundred of the clergy, refused to take the oath of allegiance to William. They received the name of non-jurors, were ejected from their sees and livings, but not otherwise persecuted. Parliament granted the king a yearly revenue of one million two hundred thousand pounds, half of which was to defray the expenses of the royal household and of certain civil offices. This was called the Civil List. The remainder was to be appropriated in defence of the kingdom. Parliament required, moreover, that there should be laid before it, an estimate of the expenditure of the army and navy. The requisite appropriations being then made, it was carefully looked to, that the sums voted for these purposes should be employed in no other way. This account, demanded by the Commous, for the proper application of supplies, proved an important check to extravagance, in which English monarchs had formerly indulged.

In matters of religion, the monarch was inclined to a generous toleration. When a committee presented him with the Scotch coronation oath, William stopped at the clause which required him to "root out all heretics, &c.," and said to the commissioners: I will not oblige myself to become a per

secutor." After strenuous efforts, William prevailed upon parliament to pass a bill allowing free toleration to all Christians, excepting Roman Catholics. The king would fain have included them, but, in the temper of the nation, it was impossible.

In Scotland, the chiefs of many of the wild Highland clans declared for James II. Their leader was Graham, of Claverhouse, whom James had created Viscount Dundee. They hated Argyle and the Lowland lords who had submitted to William. A body of these fierce Highlanders, commanded by Dundee, met their foes in a mountain defile of the Grampians, known as the pass of Killiecrankie. The Lowlanders

fled before the fierce onset of the Celtic clans, but the latter gained the victory only with the loss of their leader. It was a Highland tradition that Dundee bore a charmed life, which could not be taken by bullet of lead or iron. A Lowland soldier, aware of this, tore a silver button from his coat, and, putting it into his musket, fired a shot, which pierced Dundee to the heart.

Notwithstanding this victory, the cause of James was lost, and, by the end of the year, all opposition in Scotland to William's government seems to have ceased.

In the meanwhile, the Roman Catholics of Ireland were loud in their protestations of loyalty to the fugitive King James. The Irish peasantry rose against the hated English and Protestant settlers. In every county, they burned, robbed, and pillaged. No dwelling of an Englishman or Protestant was safe from the attacks of the wild Irish Rapparees in one mansion, which had contained three thousand pounds worth of plate, not even a single silver spoon was left. The cattle, of which the English owned large herds, were stolen and butchered with savage cruelty. Many of the most beautiful districts of Ireland appeared as though war, pestilence, and famine had successively passed over them. Large numbers of the English fled across the Channel, and but two strongholds in the province of Ulster, Enniskillen and Londonderry, remained to them.

In March, James, having received assistance from the French monarch, landed in Ireland. On leaving the court of France, Louis XIV. bade him farewell, saying: "The best wish I can give you is, that I may never see you again." James was received in Ireland with enthusiasm: was welcomed with Te Deums in Dublin, and proceeded forthwith to attempt the recovery of Ulster. In the previous year, twelve hundred men had appeared before the gates of Londonderry, and demanded admittance. Nine Protestant youths rushed out of the city, raised the drawbridge, and shut the gates in the very face of the army of King James. Ammunition was collected, the walls manned, and "there, at length, on the verge of the ocean, hunted to the last asylum, and baited in a mood in which men may be destroyed, but will not easily be subjugated, the imperial race turned desperately to bay." Finding their governor, Colonel Lundy, in correspondence with the enemy, they drove him from the town, and this memorable defence was conducted by the wise and spirited counsels of a Presbyterian minister, named Walker. James appeared in person before Londonderry, but departed at the end of a few days, leaving the command in the hands of General Rosen, who prosecuted the siege with merciless severity. When it had lasted nearly two months, English ships appeared in the harbor of Lough Foyle, but more than six weeks passed before they could surmount the obstructions in the bay, and effect a landing.

At length, at sunset on the 30th of July, three vessels were descried approaching the town. The great boom, which had so long hindered their coming, had been destroyed, and, by ten o'clock, the famine-stricken defenders of Londonderry welcomed their deliverers. The population had been reduced from seven thousand to three thousand, during this fearful siege, and lean and ghastly were the figures of the remnant which famine had spared, to witness the delivery of the devoted city.

* Macaulay.

On the same day with the relief of Londonderry, the Protestants of Enniskillen had sallied from the town, and meeting a detachment of James' army at Newton Butler, had defeated them, with a loss to the latter of twenty-five hundred men.

William sent an army, under the Baron Schomberg, into Ireland, and, in June, 1690, he went thither himself. He landed at Carrickfergus, and, advancing towards Dublin, met James on the banks of the river Boyne. On the 30th of June, the armies lay encamped on opposite sides of the river, near the spot where now stands Slane Castle. On the morning of this day, as William rode along his lines, a ball, fired by the enemy, slightly grazed his shoulder. He stooped in his saddle for a moment, and this action gave the impression, in the army of King James, that he was killed. The news was immediately sent to Dublin, thence to Paris, and from Paris to Rome.

On the 1st of July, William, with his Dutch and English army, dashed across the river in the face of the enemy. James fled towards Dublin soon after the conflict began, and his Irish troops, although fighting bravely, were beaten in every quarter. Louis XIV. saw again the face of the fugitive English king. The brave veteran, Baron Schomberg, and the Presbyterian minister who had defended Londonderry, perished in this battle. Walker's late career had given him such a taste for war, that, although created bishop of Derry, he preferred remaining in the army to returning to the duties of his sacred office. When it was told the king that the bishop of Derry had been killed by a shot at the ford, William laconically replied: "What business had the minister there?"

On the 6th July, William returned thanks in the cathedral church at Dublin for the victory of the Boyne. Other important towns soon surrendered, but Limerick, defended by native Irish, held out so bravely that the king was compelled to raise the siege. In September, he went back to England. In the following year, Limerick surrendered to William's

1691.

generals, and was admitted to honorable terms. The king endeavored, as much as possible, to check the spirit of retaliation, to secure to the Irish the exercise of their religion, and to prevent the indiscriminate confiscation of their property.

QUESTIONS.-What followed the flight of the king? What important suggestion was made in the convention ?-How was this idea carried out?-What did England become in this reign?-On what terms only did William consent to assume the crown?-Describe the conduct of a portion of the clergy.-What in consequence became their position?-Mention the course adopted with regard to the king's revenue.-Describe William's disposition towards the religious parties in the kingdom. -Who were excluded from the bill of toleration?

Describe the party which still held for James in Scotland.-Give an account of the battle of Killiecrankie.-Relate the anecdote of Dundee. Which cause finally triumphed ?-Describe the position of the Protestant population in Ireland at this time.-What strongholds alone remained to them?-By what means was James II. enabled to invade Ireland?-How was he received there?-Give some particulars of the defence and siege.-Relate the final success.-Describe William's operations in Ireland.-Give an account of the battle of the Boyne.-What followed the victory ?-What is related of the siege of Limerick?—What disposition was shown by the king on the occasion of its surrender?

CHAPTER L.

THE LAST TEN YEARS OF THE REIGN OF WILLIAM III.

GLENCOE FOREIGN WARS-DEATH OF QUEEN MARY-HER CHARACTERWILLIAM ABROAD-ACT OF SUCCESSION-LOUIS XIV.-WILLIAM'S DEATH.

IN the year 1692, an event occurred in Scotland, which proves that traces of barbarism were yet to be found amid the light and civilization of the seventeenth century. After the battle of Killiecrankie, there was no formidable opposition to