WILLIAM portant era Glorious Revolution of 1688. This Revolution gave to England a liberal theory of government, based on the avowed principle that AND MARY the public good is the great end for which positive laws and 1688-1702. governments are instituted. The doctrine of passive obedience to the crown, which the princes of the house of Stuart had ever labored to inculcate-which the crown lawyers and churchmen had so long supported, henceforth became so obnoxious to the altered feeling and sentiments of the people, that succeeding sovereigns 'scarcely ventured to hear of their hereditary right, and dreaded the cup of flattery that was drugged with poison.* This was the great change which the Revolution effected-the crown became the creature of the law-and it was henceforth conceded that the rights of the monarch emanated from the parliament and the people. 141. This Revolution forms an important era in American, as 1. This reve well as in English history-intimately connected as the rights and liberties of the colonies then were with the forms and principles of government that prevailed in the mother country. From this time, until we approach the period of the American Revolution, the relations between England and her colonies present great uniformity of character, and are marked by no great excesses of royal usurpation, or of popular jealousy and excitement. Hence that portion of our colonial history which dates subsequent to the English Revolution, embracing more than half of our colonial annals; has but a slight connection with the political history of England. The several important wars, however, in which England was 3. Subsequent engaged during this latter period, extended to America; and an explanation of their causes and results will show a connection between European and American history, that will serve to give engaged. more enlarged and accurate views of the later than an exclusive attention to our own annals would furnish. lution an im in American as well as in English history. 2. Subsequent tween England and the relations be colonies. 10ars in which Eng land roas upon the colonies. 5. Character of our early, and of our later colonial history. 142. Moreover, these wars, in connection with the growing 4. Influence importance of colonial commerce, exerted a powerful influence in of these wars acquainting the several colonies with each other; thereby developing their mutual interests, softening the asperities and abating the conflicting jealousies which separated them-and, finally, gath ering them in the bonds of one political union. 5The early portion of our colonial history presents a continuous conflict between liberal and arbitrary principles, and shows why we are a free peo ple: the latter portion, subsequent to the English Revolution, exhibits the causes which rendered us a united people. 143. In England the first part of the Revolution had been effected by a coalition of the two great parties in the nation, the Whigs and the Tories, but the final settlement of the crown upon William and Mary was almost entirely the work of the former party. In Scotland, there was, from the first, an entire separation of these opposing parties; and the Tories, finding themselves in the minority, silently withdrew from the national convention which made a tender of the royal dignity to the prince and princess of Orange. 6. Political parties in Scotland at the time of tion of 1683. England and the Revolu 144. 7The Scottish adherents of James then resolved to appeal to 7. Rebellion arms in support of their late sovereign, but after they had gained in Scotland. the battle of Killicrankie," their forces gradually dispersed, and the a. June. 1689, cause of James became hopeless in Scotland. In the meantime, 8. Cause of Louis XIV. of France openly espoused the cause of the fallen mon- James espou arch, and furnished him with a fleet, with which, on the 12th of French monMarch, 1689, James landed in Ireland, where the whole power was sed by the arch. • Hallam. 1. War dela red against France. 8 War in Ire land trimi nated. War with France. ANALYSIS. in the hands of the Catholics, who remained faithful to him. The course taken by the French monarch led to a declaration of war by England against France on the seventeenth of May of the same year. 145. 2A bloody war raged in Ireland until the autumn of 1691, when the complete reduction of the country was effected. About twelve thousand men, the adherents of James, passed over to France, and were taken into the pay of the French monarch. The war with France continued, involving most of the powers of the conti nent, nearly all of which were united in a confederacy with William, for the purpose of putting a stop to the encroachments of Louis. A detailed history of England during this war would be little less than a history of all Europe. 4On the 20th of September, 1697, the war, after a continuance of nine years, and after having entailed upon England a national debt of seventeen millions ster ling, was terminated by the treaty of Ryswick. Louis XIV. was thereby compelled to give up nearly all his European conquests, and to acknowledge William as king of England. 4. Termina ted by the treaty of Ryswick. B. Death of 6. His son procic.imed king. 146. 5James the Second died at Saint Germains, in France, in James II September, 1701, having for some time previous laid aside all thoughts of worldly grandeur, and devoted himself to the concerns of religion, according to the ceremonies of the Catholic church, and the rigid austerities of the Jesuits, of which society he was a member. On his death his youthful son, James, then only eleven years of age, was immediately proclaimed, by Louis, the lawful sovereign of England, which so exasperated the English nation that the whole kingdom joined in a cry for war with France. But while prepar ations were making for the approaching conflict, William was suddenly removed by death," in the fifty-second year of his age, and the fourteenth of his reign. His excellent consort died seven years before him. 7. Death of king Will iam. a. March 19, new style, 1702. 8. " King William's toar." b. See p. 197. 9. Terms of the treaty of Ryswick. 10. General policy of William to10 nies. 147. The war which distinguished the present reign, and which is known in American history as "King William's war," necessarily brought into collision the trans-Atlantic colonies of France and England. The prominent events of that war, so far as they affect America, will be found related in other portions of this work. By the treaty of Ryswick, the two contracting powers mutually agreed to restore to each other all American conquests that had been made during the war, but the boundary lines were reserved for the determination of commissioners to be subsequently appointed. France retained, with the exception of the eastern half of Newfoundland, the whole north-castern coast and adjacent islands of North America beyond Maine, together with the Canadas and the valley of the Mississippi. Both powers claimed the country of the Five Nations, and while England extended her pretensions as far east as the Saint Croix, France claimed as far west as the Kennebec. 148. 10The governments of the colonies had been left in a very unsettled state at the close of the preceding reign, and they now unards the colo- derwent some alterations, which gave them, in general, greater permanency, but no addition of political privileges; for William was cautious not to surrender any accessions to the royal prerogative, which his predecessor had put into his hands, and which he could legally retain. "When the insurrection broke out in Massachusetts, on the reception of the news of the revolution in England, a division Revolution existed among the people, and they hesitated to resume the exercise of the powers of the former charter government. 12The English Con 11. Massachu Betts at the time of the of 1688. • It is asserted that Louis was influenced to take this course by the entreaties and blandish ments of Madame de Maintenon. 12. Proceed to the Massa chusetts char ler. 1. Terms of the new char ler. vention parliament showed a disposition to favor the restoration of WILLIAM the Massachusetts charter, by voting its abolition a grievance; but AND MARY the Tory party having soon after gained the ascendency in the 1688-1702. House of Commons, no farther hope of relief was entertained from that quarter, and when the subject was presented to the king a new ings in Eng charter was offered, but the restoration of the old one was denied. land relativa 149. By the new charter Massachusetts became a royal government, the appointment of the governor and other executive officers being reserved to the crown. Judges, formerly elected by the people, were now to be appointed by the governor and council: the governor was empowered to convoke, adjourn, and dissolve the legislative asesmbly, or general court, at pleasure, and he possessed a negative on the acts of the legislature. To the king was reserved the power of cancelling any law within three years after its enactment. In one respect the new charter exhibited greater lib-2. Religious erality than the old one, which was silent on the subject of religious toleration in toleration. The new charter enfranchised all forms of Christianity, except, unhappily, the Roman Catholic. In the establishment of the governor's council, Massachusetts was favored beyond any other of the royal governments. In other royal provinces that body was appointed by the king; in Massachusetts it was to be appointed, in the first instance, by the king, but ever after it was to be elected in joint ballot by the members of the council and the representatives of the people. Massachu selts. 3. Establishment of the governor's council. liam 150. Connecticut and Rhode Island retained their charters, of 4 Situation which there had been no legal surrender; and king William, usuof Connecticut and ally as cautious not to encroach upon legal rights, as he was to re- Rhode Island tain all the powers which the laws gave him, allowed the govern- reign of Wib during the ment of the people to remain unaltered. The king's governor of New York indeed claimed, as a part of the royal prerogative, the command of the militia of these colonies, but the people resisted, and the king, in council, afterwards decideda that the ordinary a. April 29, power of the militia in Connecticut and Rhode Island belonged to their respective governments. These two New England colonies, happy in the enjoyment of their early chartered rights, remained perfect democracies until the American Revolution. 1694. 6. Of New Jersey. 151. 5New York remained a royal government after the accession 5. Situation of William, and, after the dissensions excited by the unfortunate of New York, Leisler had subsided, continued to receive its governors at the king's pleasure. The surrender of the proprietary governments of the two divisions of New Jersey to Andros, in 1688, had legally merged the sovereignty over the whole in the crown. Yet after the English revolution, the proprietaries partially resumed their authority, but during the whole reign of William the entire province was in a very unsettled condition, the king leaving the settl nent of the government to the courts of law and the parliament. In the first year of the reign of Anne the controversy was adjusted, when New Jersey was taken under the jurisdiction of the crown, and annexed to the government of New York. 152. After the revolution of 1688, William Penn, the proprietary of Pennsylvania, and then residing in England, was generally suspected of adhering to the interests of his former patron, James the Second, and a charge was preferred against him by a worthless individual, of being engaged in a treasonable conspiracy in favor of the exiled tyrant. In consequence of the suspicions against him, after having been several times arrested, questioned, and released, he for a while lived in concealment. Moreover, some disturbances had arisen in Pennsylvania, relative 7. Penn's suspected ad. herence to James the Second; the against him, deprived of meni, &c. charges his govern to him. ANALYSIS. to the administration of justice; and it was alleged that the laws had been administered there in the name of the banished king, long after the government of Willian and Mary had been acknowledged in the other colonies. These various causes induced the English crown to take into its own hands the government of Pennsylvania, by the appointment of Benjamin Fletcher as gover1. His govern. nor of the province. But William Penn was not without friends ment res ored among men of influence in England, and the king being at length undeceived in his suspicions against him, in 1694 a royal warrant was issued for reinstating him in his proprietary rights. 153. 2The proprietary of Maryland was less fortunate. The Maryland at revolution in England was a "Protestant" revolution; and when the time of the revolution news of its success reached Maryland, the "Catholic" governof 1688. ment there, which hesitated to proclaim the new sovereigns, was overthrown by a convention of associates who united "for the defence of the Protestant religion" and "the rights of William and Mary." Lord Baltimore, then in England, after a delay of two years, was cited to answer, before the king's council, the charges preferred against him. Although convicted of no charge but his adherence to the Catholic religion, yet he was deprived, by act of council, of the political administration of the province, although he was suffered to retain the patrimonial interests secured by the charter. 2 Events in 3. Proceed Lord Balti ings against more. 4. Virginia, how affected tion. 154. Virginia experienced little change in her government and by the revolu- privileges by the English revolution. Her existing institutions were regarded as more permanently established by that event, and although the king continued to appoint her governors, yet her legislative assemblies, fully imbued with the spirit of liberty, were ever after able to restrain any serious encroachments on the rights 5. The Car of the people. To the proprietaries of the Carolinas the English revolution gave increased security for their vested rights; but domestic discord long disturbed the quiet of these southern provinces. olinas. ANNE. Anne. 155. We now proceed to notice briefly the most important 1702-1714. events of the reign of Queen Anne, who succeeded to the throne 6. Queen of England on the death of William in 1702. She was married to George, prince of Denmark, but the administration of the govern7. Military ment was wholly in the hands of the queen. She immediately preparations. adopted the military views of her predecessor, and formidable preparations were made for carrying on a vigorous war with France. 8. The great 156. The war that commenced soon after the accession of Anne, cause of Euoriginated in causes far deeper than the insult which the French ropean wars at this period. monarch had thrown upon the English nation, by acknowledging the son of James as England's legitimate sovereign. While cach of the great states of Europe was very naturally desirous of angmenting its own power and influence, each was then, as now, jealous of any growing superiority on the part of another which might tend to destroy that "balance of power," on which the general Conquests tranquillity and safety of Europe were thought to depend. of Louis XIV. '0. His ambi after the The conquests of Louis XIV. had previously jostled the scales of this balance," and the hope of restoring their equilibrium, and thus saving his own country from ruin, had been the principal inducement that led William of Orange, one of the greatest men of the age, to aspire to the throne of England. 157. 10Although the war which ended in the treaty of Ryswick tious vietos had checked and reduced the power of Louis, it had not humbled treaty of his ambitious views, which soon involved England in another war, known in European history as the "War of the Spanish Succes Ryswick. . 1. The imme diare events that led to the var of the Spanish Suc cession. sion." The immediate events that led to that war were the fol- ANNE. lowing. On the death of Charles the Second of Spain, in the year 1702-1714. 1700, the two claimants of the Spanish throne were the archduke Charles of Austria, and Philip of Anjou, nephew of the French monarch. Both these princes endeavored by their emissaries to obtain from Charles, on his sick bed, a declaration in favor of their respective pretensions; but although the Spanish monarch was strongly in favor of the claims of the archduke his kinsman, yet the gold and the promises of Louis prevailed with the Spanish grandees to induce their sovereign to assign by will, to the duke of Anjou, the undivided sovereignty of the Spanish dominions. The archduke resolved to support his claims by the sword, while the possible, and not improbable union of the crowns of France and Spain in the person of Philip, after the death of Louis, was looked upon by England, Germany,† and Holland, as an event highly dangerous to the safety of those nations; and on the 15th of May, 1702, these three powers declared war against France, in support of the claims of the archduke to the Spanish succession. 158. 2The events of this war are too numerous to be related here in detail. The famous Austrian prince Eugene was associated with the English duke of Marlborough, the greatest general of the age, of whom it is said, that he never laid siege to a place which he did not take, nor fought a battle which he did not win. The splendid victories of Blenheim, Ramilies, Oudenarde.|| and Malplaquet, humbled the power of Louis to such a degree that he was constrained to solicit peace. 2. Events of the war in Europe. stances of Europe. 4. Causes that induced a general de 159. During the progress of the war the circumstances of Europe 3. Change in had been materially changed by the death of the emperor of Aus- the circum. tria early in 1711, and the election of the archduke Charles in his room. The union of the crowns of Spain and Austria in the person of Charles, henceforth began to be looked upon, by some of the smaller states of Europe, with as much dread as the threatened union of France and Spain in the person of Philip; and a general desire was felt for a treaty of pacification, which should secure the preservation of the balance of power from the dangers that were threatened by the success of either of the parties in the present contest. 160. 5A general peace was finally concluded by the treaty of Utrecht, on the 11th of April, 1713, by the terms of which the French king acknowledged the title of Anne to the throne of England, and agreed to cede Newfoundland and Hudson's Bay to that sire for peace. 5 General terms of the treaty of Utrecht. (Oo-trekt.) Before the end of the war of the Spanish Succession, death had removed the dauphin of France, heir to the throne, together with his son and grandson; so that there remained only a sickly infant in the cradle between Philip and the throne of France. The emperor of Austria is often mentioned in history as the emperor of Germany,-and while the terms Germany and Austria are sometimes used as synonymous, they are at other times used to denote distinct and separate countries. The reason is this: ancient Austria was one of the principal provinces of Germany, and as it was the particular province in which the emperor resided, and over which he exercised all the powers of sovereignty, while in the other provinces some of these powers were given away to numerous dukes, princes, &c., the province of Austria is usually mentioned in history as the empire, while the other German states are often spoken of as Germany. About one-third of Austria is now composed of German states; the other third comprises Hungary, Gallicia, Dalmatia, &c., and other small appendages August 13th, 1704. By French writers called the battle of Hochstadt. May 231, 1705. July 11th, 1708. September 11th, 1709. In this battle, the French lost the honor of the day, but the allies lost the greatest number of men. Numerous other battles were fought with various success, but in these four actions the French lost, in killed, wounded, and prisoners, 80,000 men, and the allies nearly 40,000. |