WILLIAM III. AND MARY II. 1689 - 1694
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DOMINIONS The same as under Charles II., but the greater part
of Ireland continued to acknowledge James II,, and was not finally conquered till 1691. PRINCIPAL EVENTS. " Bill of Rights," and "Acts of Toleration," passed. Siege of Londonderry, Ireland, 1689. Battle of the Boyne, in which James was defeated by William, 1690. Commencement of the National Debt, 1692. Triennial parliaments established. The Bank of England incorporated by charter, 1694. The first Eddystone lighthouse began, 1695. Plot to assassinate William discovered: the conspirators executed. The treaty of Ryswick, by which France and England make peace, 1697. Act of Settlement by which the succession was limited to Sophia of Hanover and her heirs, 1701. A second grand alliance against France, and preparations for war, 1702, |
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| William, Born 1650. Began to reign.1689. - Reigned 13 years. - Died 1702. | ||
| Mary, Born 1662. Began to reign,1689. - Reigned 5 years, - Died 1694. |
Mary II.., Queen of England, born in 1662, was daughter of James, duke of York, afterwards James II., by his wife Anne Hyde, daughter of Lord Clarendon. She was married in 1677 to William, prince of Orange; and when the Revolution dethroned her father, Mary was declared joint-possessor of the throne with William, on whom all the administration of the government devolved. During the absence of William in Ireland in 1690, and during his various visits to the Continent, Mary managed at home with extreme prudence. She was strongly attached to the Protestant religion and the Church of England. She died of small-pox in 1694.
William III., Stadtholder of Holland and King of England, son of William II. of Nassau, prince of Orange, and Henrietta Mary Stuart, daughter of Charles I. of England, was born at the Hague on the 4th of November, 1650. During his early life all power was in the hands of the grand pensionary John De Witt, but when France and England in 1672 declared war against the Netherlands, there was a popular revolt, in which Cornelius and John De Witt were murdered, while William was declared captain-general, grand-admiral, and stadtholder of the United Provinces. In the campaign which followed he opened the sluices in the dykes and inundated the country round Amsterdam, thus causing the French to retire, while peace was soon made with England.
In subsequent campaigns he lost the battle of Seneffe (1674) and St. Omer (1677), but was still able to keep the enemy in check. In 1677 he was married, and the Peace of Nijmegen followed in 1678. For some years infrequent to this the policy of William was directed to curb the power of Louis XIV., and to this end he brought about the League of Augsburg in 1686. As his wife was heir presumptive to the English throne he had kept close watch upon the policy of his father-in-law James II., and in 1688 he issued a declaration recapitulating the unconstitutional acts of the English king, and promising to secure a free parliament to the people.
Being invited over to England by some of the leading men he arrived suddenly at Torbay, Nov. 5,1688, with a fleet of 500 sail, and with 14,000 troops. Upon landing a great part of the nobility declared in his favour, and in December James fled with his family to France, after which William made his entry into London.
The throne was now declared vacant, the Declaration of Rights was passed, and on Feb. 13, 1689, Mary was proclaimed queen and William king. Scotland soon afterwards followed England's example (with a partial resistance under Dundee) but in Ireland, whither Louis XIV. Sent James with an army, the majority of the Catholics maintained the cause of the deposed king, until they were defeated at the Boyne (1690) and at Aughrim (1691).
THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND AND THE NON-JURORS
The clergy had as a body so strongly upheld the duty of non-resistance that it was difficult for them consistently to take part in the Revolution. Some of the ablest and most conscientious of the High Churchmen refused to take the oaths to William and Mary, and were deprived of their sees and livings. They founded and continued in existence the separate body of Non-jurors. They were headed by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Sancroft, Ken the Bishop of Bath and Wells, author of the Morning and Evening Hymns, the Bishops of Ely, Peterborough, Chichester, Gloucester, Norwich, Worcester. The first five of these had been among the Seven Bishops prosecuted by James II.
The secession of so influential a body, and the evident tergiversation of many who took the oaths, contributed
to the decided decay of the influence of the Church, which began to make itself felt by the reign of George I.
The reign of Anne, a High Churchwoman herself, had brought the Church and government into close alliance again,
but the Jacobitism of the ablest prelate, Atterbury of Rochester, and the promotion by William III and George I.
of Low (i.e. Broad) Churchmen to bishoprics, against the wishes of the mass of the clergy and country gentlemen,
increased the inefficiency of the Church. Jeremy Collier and Carte the historical writer, and William Law by far
the most eminent divine of the earlier eighteenth century, were Non-jurors.
THE STANDING ARMY
There was no permanent army in England till the Instrument of Government - see 1653 - incorporated the army into the machinery of government by a fundamental constitutional law. The armies during the Civil Wars had been avowedly raised for temporary emergencies, though no doubt an army would have remained after the struggle, whoever had won. In 1660 this army was paid off and disbanded by Car. II. 12, cc. 9, 10, 15, 20, 27, but twenty-six garrisons were maintained, and a small force permanently in regiments, supported out of the fixed revenues of the Crown. Monk's regiment was immediately re-embodied after disbandment as the Coldstream Guards. One regiment of Foot-guards, now the Grenadier Guards, and two regiments of Horse Guards, now the First Life Guards and the Blues, were raised from members of the old Cavalier forces and Royalist refugees. Dumbarton's Foot, a Scotch regiment originally serving in France, and then under Gustavus Adolphus, subsequently in France again, came home, and became known as the First Royal Regiment of Foot in Scotland, late the first of the Line, now the Royal Scots. A regiment of Scottish Life Guards, now the Second Life Guards, and subsequently other regiments, were raised in Scotland .
A regiment of Dragoons, now the First Royal Dragoons, and of Foot, late the Second Queen's Regiment now the Royal
West Surrey, were raised for service at Tangiers; and a regiment of Foot, subsequently the Bombay Fusileers, then
the 103rd Regiment, now the 2nd Batt. R. Dublin Fusileers, for service at Bombay.
During the Dutch wars, and in the reign of James II , the standing army was increased, but diminished again in
1678 and at the Revolution. The Buffs, however, lately the 3rd Regiment of Foot, now the East Kent Regiment, were
permanently added to the Army, and six English regiments which had been maintained in the Dutch service were brought
home.
Under William III the annual Mutiny Acts gave a cohesion to the Army which bad not formerly existed, and with the
Bill of Rights and the Act of Settlement brought the existence and pay of the army under Parliamentary control
There was great jealousy, however, on the subject of a standing army, and its numbers were constantly reduced at
every peace to absurdly small proportions, to be raised hurriedly, inefficiently, and expensively, as each war
broke out. Down to the Wars of the French Revolution the military disasters in the beginning of most of our wars
may be traced to this practice.
WARS
The Revolution had to be imposed upon Ireland by force of arms. Londonderry was successfully defended by the Protestants till the siege was raised on July 30th, 1689, and the same day the Protestants of Enniskillen defeated the Irish at Newton Butler. On July 1st 1690, William defeated James at the Boyne, but was forced to raise the siege of Limerick on Aug. 30th. The Earl of Marlborough took Cork and Kinsale in the autumn. In 1691 General Ginkell took Athlone, defeated the French and Irish at Aghrim, July 12th, took Galway, and ended the war by the surrender of Limerick, Oct. 5th, on terms which were partly evaded by the Irish and English parliaments later.
In Scotland Viscount Dundee raised the Highlands
for King James, but was killed in a victory at Killiecrankie, July 27th,1689, after which the conflict dwindled
down into partisan warfare, till a pacification was made in 1691. On the Continent war with France began in 1689,
being part of the understood terms on which the Revolution was carried out. William was to restore Parliamentary
government in England, and England was to act with the allies against France. 1690, June 30th. The English and
Dutch fleets were defeated off Beachy Head by the French. The same day the Allies under the Prince of Waldeck were
defeated by Luxembourg at Fleurus.
1692, May 19 - 24th. The French fleet defeated and many men of war and transports destroyed at La Hogue.
1692, Aug. 3. William defeated at Steenkirke by Luxembourg.
1693, July 28. William defeated at Landen or Neerwinden by Luxembourg.
1695, Sept. 1. William took Namur.
In the war with France William was less successful; but although he was defeated at Steinkirk (1692) and Neerwinden (1693) Louis was finally compelled to acknowledge him king of England at the Peace of Ryswick in 1697.
In 1701 James II. died, and Louis XIV. acknowledged his son as king of England. England, Holland, and the empire had already combined against Louis, and the war of the Spanish Succession was just on the point of commencing when William died, 8th March, 1702, from the effects of a fall from his horse, his wife having already died childless in 1694.
OFFICIALS
The two parties, now called Whigs and Tories, had united in supporting William and Mary, and the King
at first drew his advisers from both parties. He was, however, in fact his own Prime Minister, presiding in the
Council when in England, and his own Minister of War and Foreign Affairs.
In 1689 Viscount Mordaunt was first Lord of the Treasury till 1690; the Marquis of Carmarthen, afterwards Duke
of Leeds, formerly Earl of Danby, Lord President of the Council till 1699; the Marquis of Halifax, Lord Privy Seal
till 1690; the Earl of Torrington, first Commissioner of the Admiralty, till 1690; the Earl of Nottingham, Secretary
of State, till 1693.
The Great Seal was in Commission.
1690. The Earl of Godolphin was First Lord of the Treasury till 1696, and again 1700 - 1701.Charles Montague, afterwards
Earl of Halifax, was a Lord of the Treasury, 1692 - 1697; Chancellor of the Exchequer, 1694 to 1697; First Lord
of the Treasury, 1697 to 1699.Lord Somers was Lord Keeper; 1693-1697; and Lord Chancellor from 1697 to 1700.
Robert, Earl of Sunderland, Privy Councillor, 1697.
The Earl of Shrewsbury, afterwards Duke, Privy Councillor, 1689 - 92; a Secretary of State, 1689 - 1690; and again
1694 - 1699.
John Lord Churchill, afterwards Earl and Duke of Marlborough, Privy Councillor, 1689 - 1692; Commander in Chief
in England, 1690 - 1692. Restored to the Privy Council, 1698. Commander in Chief in the Netherlands, 1701.
William Bentinck, Earl of Portland, Privy Councillor, 1689.
ACTS AND DOCUMENTS
Gul. & Mar. 1, C. 5, The first Mutiny Act, to
regulate the discipline of the army. Passed in consequence of the refusal of Dumbarton's (Scotch) regiment to obey
the (certainly illegal) order of the English government to embark for Flanders. Passed as an annual act it necessitated
the annual meeting of parliament.
Gul. & Mar. 1, c. 18. The Toleration Act. This Act while not altering the Test and Corporation Acts, nor repealing
the penal laws against the Romanists, allowed the meeting of dissenters from the Church for public worship with
open doors on certain conditions. Deniers of the Trinity were, however, still excluded from the benefit of the
act. Taken in conjunction with the expiration of the law against unlicensed printing, which lapsed in 1695, it
marks the abandonment by the government of the hardest part of its work, the maintenance of its own view of truth,
which had perplexed all governments since Henry VIII., if not since the passing of the Lollard statutes. The small
number of Ronanists and Socinians made their exception of no practical importance. The benefits of the policy were
not extended to Ireland, where the Romanists were a majority.
Gul. & Mar. 1, sess. 2, c. 2. The Bill of Rights. This is practically the same as the Declaration of Rights
which had been presented to the sovereigns as a condition of their receiving the crown, and which put the monarchy
of the Revolution upon a different basis from that of the monarchy by birthright of the Stewarts. It settled, in
the sense desired by the Whig party, the questions concerning the Suspending and Dispensing power, the maintenance
of a standing army in time of peace, the freedom and constant assembling of Parliaments, and the liberty of the
subject, laying down the law distinctly on many points in opposition to the views upheld by the Judges and Crown
lawyers under the Stewarts. It also regulated the succession to the crown according to a definite plan. In effect
it marked the transference of influence from the Crown to the aristocracy who controlled Parliament
It is printed at the end of Stubbs, Select Charters.
Gul. & Mar. 2, sess. 2, c. 11. Commissioners appointed to audit the public accounts, These were appointed subsequently
year by year till 1785, when a Permanent Board of Public Accounts was erected.
1691. The Treaty of Limerick, promising certain liberties to the Irish Catholics. The treaty was subsequently much
modified by the action of the Irish Parliament.
Gul. & Mar. 5 & 6, c. 20. An Act incorporating certain Merchants with special privileges on condition of
their supporting the Government with money for the war. They were incorporated by Royal Charter as the Bank of
England on July 27th, 1694.
Gul. & Mar. 6 & 7, c. 2. The Triennial Act, limiting the duration of parliaments to three years.
Gul. III. 7 & 8, c. 3. An Act regulating trials for treason. Persons accused of treason to be furnished with
a copy of the indictment and to be allowed counsel, and otherwise protected. Trials for treason had up to this
time been little better than an authorised form of murder. The old habit of taking unfair advantage of the prisoner
in such cases continued to make itself felt long afterwards.
In 1696 as Sir John Yenwlek could not have been convicted of treason under the new Act, he was condemned by Act
of Attainder. (Gul. III 8 & 9, c.4.)
1697. The Peace of Ryswick, between France and the Allies William recognised as King in England, and the Protestant
succession alter him accepted by France. France yielded all her conquests since the Treaty of Nimuegen, but retained
Strassburg and other places which she had acquired by a form of law, supported by violence, in time of peace. It
was the first peace for fifty years by which France had not been aggrandized, and was so far a triumph for the
Allies.
1698 mid 1700, The Partition Treaties, for a partition of the Spanish Monarchy, arranged between William and Louis
XIV. These treaties, disregarding the rights of the Spanish crown and people, were negotiated with the privity
of only a very few of the King's advisers, though they were certain to involve England in war. The Earl of Portland
and Lord Somers were impeached in 1701 for their share in them, a mere vote of the House of Commons not being yet
sufficient to remove a Minister. The French king disregarded the Treaties so soon as it suited his schemes to do
so.
1701. The Act of Settlement. Resettling the Protestant Succession, recapitulating several points of the Bill of
Rights, and incapacitating persons holding offices of profit under the Crown from sitting in the House of Commons.
Privy Councillors were also to be individually responsible for the acts taken on their advice.
This act illustrates the so far imperfect conception of Ministerial government and united Cabinets as now understood.
Ministers were by it considered independent advisers of the Crown, not sitting in the House of Commons.
All the Acts given above are printed in the Statutes
